Naruto: The Three Legends
by BlueJayX
Summary: Neglected by his family, Naruto becomes a legend that Konoha didn't expect with the help of a cursed sword. Watch as Naruto and his team surge forward towards their destiny. NarutoXShizuka. Slow Burn. Strong! Smart! OOC Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, everybody! I'm new to the Fanfiction writing world and I'm happy to say that this is my first story. A friend of mine convinced me to start posting my Fanfic ideas and now I'm doing it. I couldn't get this out of my head so I wrote the fanfic. I have no Beta so there will be mistakes!**

**Contains a few One Piece characters and elements.**

**Warning: This story will contain violent, sexual, and vulgar content. This isn't a dark Naruto story!**

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Tailed Beast/Black Zestu/Jutsu"**

**_'Thinking or Black Zestu'_**

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 1: Prologue

**October 10**

If someone were to describe Konohagakure's current state, they would say it looks like hell. The village has currently suffered due to the Kyuubi no Yoko.

Smoke was coming out of collapsed buildings while corpses of fellow shinobi lay in the rubble of the attack. Some of the dead included innocent villagers who never arrived at the evacuation shelter. Businesses and homes of the villagers had been either severely damaged or destroyed in the battle.

When the Hokage ordered for the villagers to exit the shelter, many cried for the fallen.

Everyone except for two people.

Namikaze Minato, also known as the Yondaime Hokage, was currently running to the hospital with his sensei behind him. They both carried babies in their arms as they tried to arrive at the hospital.

_'Kami, help me if I'm late!'_

Once he arrived, Minato dashed to the hospital room that held his wife.

Opening the door, Minato saw his wife on the hospital bed with a tired look on her face. Next to her was the legendary Sannin, Tsunade, who appeared angry.

"It's about time the two of you arrived," said Tsunade.

"You try sealing a large kitsune in three babies," mumbled Jiraiya under his breath. The man was tired of kami sakes. He had to run to the hospital before Kushina had a heart attack.

"You both are lucky that Kushina is tired or she'd have both your heads," Tsunade stated in amusement while watching their paling faces. She didn't think the men would arrive before midnight.

"I will once I recover." stated the Kushina from her bed. She was currently holding a blonde bundle of joy in her hands. The blonde was quite unlike his younger siblings.

Minato couldn't help but smile. He promised them that he would return before the night was over. With two minutes to spare, they arrived before midnight. He looked down at his daughters. Mito was drooling and laughing while Mina was sleeping.

These were the little princesses that he will protect no matter what.

Turning towards Jiraiya, he sees him smiling lovingly at Nawaki.

"The boy will be a troublemaker and my successor just like his father!" announced Jiraiya. That earned him a bonk to the head by Tsunade. To their surprise, Naruto laughed at the sound of Jiraiya in pain. Kushina couldn't help but pull Naruto closer to her arms.

"Maybe Naruto-kun won't turn into a perverted Jiraiya." laughed Kushina. Tsunade joined Kushina in the laughter. If Naruto doesn't take after Jiraiya, then she would have a non-perverted godson as family. Jiraiya was looking at Kushina in annoyance.

'_Some people can't appreciate my art.'_

Somewhere in Iwagakure, a blond boy making a clay sculpture sneezed.

"In any case, I think you should announce sensei's death and claim the kids as Heros of Konoha. They are going to need the people to see them as heroes instead of the Kyuubi reincarnated," explained Jiraiya as he looked directly at Minato. It hurt him that his sensei sacrificed himself to seal the Kyuubi into the children. Originally, Minato was supposed to seal the Kyuubi. Sarutobi had pulled Jiraiya to the side, telling him that he would do the sealing because Minato needs to be with his family. Jiraiya couldn't help but agree with his sensei. The kids will need their father in their lives.

"It will be done. For now, I would like Kushina to hold Nawaki and Naruto while I hold my daughters. We want to take our first family picture." Minato said while walking towards Kushina's side. Tsunade and Jiraiya smiled while thinking the same thing.

_'This will be one big happy family.'_

Jiraiya walked towards Kushina and handed her Nawaki while Tsunade got the camera ready.

"Whenever you guys are ready," stated Tsunade, smiling at the scene before her.

"Ready," they both announced.

click*

Unknown to them, this will be the photo that will show what they could have been.

A big happy family.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, everybody! I'm new to the Fanfiction writing world and I'm happy to say that this is my first story. A friend of mine convinced me to start posting my Fanfic ideas and now I'm doing it. I couldn't get this out of my head so I wrote the fanfic.**

**Warning: This story will contain violent, sexual, and vulgar content. This isn't a dark Naruto story!**

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Tailed Beast/Black Zestu/Jutsu"**

_**'Thinking Tailed Beast or Black Zestu'**_

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 2: As Time Passes

**Time Skip 4 Years:**

It was peaceful in Konoha and the village was thriving. People were going about their business walking around the streets. Some were eating at the famed Ichiraku's Ramen stand where the famed Heroes of the Leaf frequently dine and others were shopping for daily necessities.

**"Nawaki!"**

Well it was peaceful until the Yondaime voice was heard all around the village.

"Hurry up Naruto-nii!"

"Why did you pull another prank Waki-kun!?"

Currently, the leaf's unpredictable Nawaki was running with Naruto. It was the only thing that the two do together. Nawaki would always drag Naruto into some dumb prank and then they would be chased together. Naruto loved to spend time together, but he hated when Nawaki would prank people. Last time he pranked someone, they were dragged into the forest of death by an angry snake lady.

"You have to admit it was funny Naruto-nii! Imagine on our otosan's face. HAHAHA!"

Naruto can only roll his eyes. He knew that when the opportunity came, Nawaki would use it to his advantage. Today was the Hokage's unlucky day. They stopped running around the village when they found a good place to hide. They hid on top of a tree on the Yondamie's head. The Hokage Monument was Naruto's idea. Naruto likes spending time with Nawaki, but oftentimes he just wants to read with Mina. Speaking of Mina…..

"You are such a dummy Nawaki-kun."stated a voice in the back of them.

Turning their heads, they saw an amused Mina and furious Minato with dyed rainbow hair.

"You are coming with me to my office Nawaki. I've told you to stop pranking people and you're still prank. Anko is still mad for the explosive dango prank you pulled two days ago and Kakashi is still irritated that you turned his mask and hitai-ate pink." stated Minato.

Naruto and Mina chuckled at the mention of the Kakashi prank. One of the most feared ninjas had to wear pink for a week.

Minato turned to Naruto.

"You and Mina are to go home. I know you were just dragged into this like the last couple of times, but you will still be punished. No going outside the house for two days and no hanging out with friends."

Naruto didn't care about the punishments. He only ever talks to Tayaka and that was very little. He only craves the attention of his family. He nodded his head and walked quietly with Mina to the Namikaze compound.

* * *

**Namikaze Compound**

Kushina and Mito were preparing breakfast for the family. Kushina couldn't wait to tell the kids the big news. Minato thought today was the best day to tell them. After all, everyone was getting along fabulously. She smiled as Mito tried to cook the rice. Mito usually is around her otosan, but he has paperwork to write.

The front door opened.

"Kaa-chan I'm home with the Blue Imouto!"

"Naruto!"

Kushina laughed. One thing she liked about Naruto was the names he gave his siblings. Nawaki was Waki-kun because he would fluster over the name. The girls are referred to by their eye color. Mito was called 'Violet Imouto' while Mina was called 'Blue Imouto'. They would all complain, but Naruto would still say it. Naruto only says their nicknames in private. Besides that, he would call them by their given names.

"Come in the kitchen. I almost finished making breakfast." stated Kushina.

Naruto and Mina took a seat at the table.

Naruto was wearing his usual blue shinobi pants and black long sleeve shirt with the Uzumaki crest on his back. His shinobi sandals were black and his blond hair was spiked like Nawaki's. Mina was dressed in a blue sleeveless shinobi dress with blue shinobi Uzumaki clan symbol on the front of the dress.

Unlike his siblings, Naruto was born without whisker marks. If it weren't for Naruto's violet eyes and Nawaki's whisker marks. They could pass as mini Minatos.

"Wanna do a staring contest before the others get home?"

"You're on Blue."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Would you want me to call you Red instead. It's the color of your hair after all."

Mina puffed her cheeks, but didn't say a word. Naruto smirked and the battle began. Mito was done with kitchen duty, so she watched them play the game. She may have been the youngest of the four, but she liked seeing the two oldest siblings challenge each other.

Two minutes past and the eldest children of the Hokage are still going strong.

After three minutes, Mina starts to waiver. Naruto smirked again.

"If you lose again, I'm going to keep calling you Blue everytime I see you with the family."

"Never."

At this time, Nawaki throws the door open. This minor action causes Mina to blink.

"We're home!" Nawaki announced angrily as he walks into the kitchen. He's upset because he couldn't go to Kiba's house to play with Akamaru.

Nawaki stops walking when he sees a hannya mask appear behind Mina. Mito was laughing on the ground and Naruto threw him a look of pity. He knows what's it like to get Mina angry and he hopes Nawaki was prepared for her hell awakening.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU! WHEN YOU COME HOME, DON'T SLAM THE DOORS OPEN!"

'_Note to self: STOP SLAMMING THE DOORS OPEN!' _Nawaki reminded himself. As soon as that thought passed, he bolted to his room upstairs with an angry Uzumaki women behind him.

"NOT THE FACE!"

He never made it to his room.

"Good Morning Otosan!"

"Good morning Mito. How's my little Kushi this morning?"

Naruto laughed at this. Mito was given that name at birth. When she opened her eyes, Minato could have sworn she could pass as her mother with those violet eyes and red hair. Nawaki was also given a similar nickname due to him having circulent blue eyes and sun kissed blond hair like his father. It didn't help that his dream was to become Hokage. One thing he was glad for was to be able to tell his children apart.

"I really don't like those nicknames you guys give me. I'm a future ninja of Konohagakure and child of the Uzumaki-Namikaze clan. When will I get the respect that you and Kaa-san receive", complained a pouting Mito. She was currently hugging Naruto

"The question is when is when is Mito going to control her anger issu- Ow!"

"When are you going to stop slamming the doors!"

Naruto smiled as Mina and Nawaki came back into the kitchen. Naruto has enjoyed his time with the family. Usually, Minato would be in the Hokage office until late at night, but for some odd reason, he decided to join them for breakfast. Naruto's mind was working itself to find the reason why he wanted to come for breakfast since Mito usually delivers it. The only reason he can think of is that they would announce the start of their training in the ninja arts despite their age. It's known for kids in clans to start their training earlier than the academy, especially if they were the heirs. Civilians are a different matter completely. They would start at the academy and either fail or graduate. From that point, they usually go to the reserves or got back to the academy. Naruto only knew this because he had spied at the academy and team tests.'_No way in hell am I going to the reserves.'_

Minato walked over to Kushina and have her a kiss on the cheek. He wished he could do this every morning, but he had responsibilities as Hokage to fulfill. The only time he really sees his family is late at night. He would be treated with the sight of Mina and Mito fighting, Nawaki telling Kushina about his day, and Naruto would be washing dishes or cleaning something.'_I love them so much'_

Once Mina got the table set, everyone took a seat. Minato in the would sit in the head chair while Kushina and Nawaki on the left side of the table. Mito and Mina would sit on the right side of the table while Naruto sat directly across from him. Minato was happy seeing everyone eating their breakfast.

"I'm taking the day off from work today. I know paperwork will be piling up, but today is a special day. I want everyone here on time for dinner. This announcement involves all of you and I don't want anyone absent."he said smirking. Mito and Nawaki wanted to know already. They were begging him to tell them already. He look directly into Naruto ultra violet eyes.

"Naruto-kun, I want you to help clean the house today. Your kaa-san and I will be going into the village to get everything we need for tonight. I know I can trust you with this chores because you always leave the house spotless."

For some strange reason, Naruto was a very organized person. He wasn't a germaphobe, but he felt at ease when things were clean and organized. His room was a perfect example. While Nawaki's room was messy with ramen stains on the floor and clothes everywhere, Naruto had his room spotless. He had his bookshelves organized in alphabetical order and his clothes organized in his closet by the color and type of clothes. Minato and Kushina were impressed by this discovery and made sure to give compensate him when he cleans around the house.

"No sweat otosan. All I ask is for everyone to wash their dishes so I can get off to a good start."

Everyone nodded and finished their breakfast. Naruto started to clean the bottom pro thing of their compound while his siblings started cleaning their rooms. Minato and Kushina left to grab what they needed for tonight.

* * *

**The Namikaze Compound**

**5 minutes before Dinner**

Everything was ready for tonight. The kids where current playing ninja in the backyard. Nawaki was dressed in his orange shinobi shirt while wearing black cargo shorts. The Namikaze crest on his shoulders. He was trying to tackle Naruto who was pretending to be a missing-nin. Mito was wearing her signature red shinobi skirt with a blue short sleeve shirt. Her hair was in a ponytail just like her mother. The Uzumaki crest was displayed proudly on the front of her shirt.

"Everyone come inside. It's time for the big announcement."

The children ran inside when they heard their mother's voice. Once inside they were greeted by the sight of Jiraiya and Tsunade. Both were standing beside the dinner table.

"Look at my cute little godchildren. You guys look pretty happy to see the amazing and handsome Jiraiya of the Sannin!"

*_smack*_

Tsunade hit him with a super strong punch to the gut.

"Would you shut up you pervert. I'm trying to see my precious godchildren. The last thing I need to hear is that stupid introduction."

Naruto fell to the floor holding his stomach. He like Jiraiya, but the man was a pervert. He always prefered Tsunade over Jiraiya. He may not spend as much time with them as his siblings, but Tsunade was able to do the things Naruto wished to do while with the pervert. He just wanted to beat the pervert's conceitedness out of him.

Jiraiya felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Alright let head into the living room and give the announcement. Once that's over with, we can eat the delicious shrimp flavored ramen I made"

Nothing was better than Kushina's homemade ramen. The only thing that could beat it was Ichiraku's Ramen.

They headed into the living room which was connected to the kitchen. There were two large three seater sofas facing the coffee table in the middle of the room. In the front of the living room was a door to enter the Namikaze household. On the opposite side was the kitchen entrance. On the left side of the living room, there were stairs leading to the Namikaze's rooms. On the right side was a portrait of The Namikaze family. This was a replica of their first family picture.

"Okay kids, take a seat on the couch."

The Namikaze kids did as their mother instructed. Mina and Naruto were sitting on the couch facing the kitchen entrance while Nawaki and Mito sat on the one facing the house entrance. The adults stood facing them.

"You already know that when you turn nine years old, you'll all be starting the academy,'' stated the toad sage.

Everyone nodded at this. It was years away, but the academy will be the start of their path in becoming leaf ninja. Naruto was not looking forward to the four years of lecture. Something that no one knew was that Naruto was gifted with photographic memory. He learns better by watching and reading than hearing lectures. He didn't like explanations when he gets it one the first try. He's already reading books on the History of the Hidden Leaf Village and How to take Care of Ninja Weapons.

"We have all decided that starting next week we will be starting your ninja training by all four of us. We will show you the basics such as shuriken and kunai accuracy to taijutsu training. As the training progresses you will be pushed to do things such as the tree walking exercise and chakra balance exercises. Be assured that we won't be going easy on you."

The kids were ecstatic. They were finally going to start ninja training.

'_One step closer to being Hokage'_

'_I'm gonna make the Uzumaki's feared again!'_

'_Soon I'll be the heiress to the Uzumaki!'_

'_Finally, I'll start training to be a leaf ninja!'_

They all smiled seeing the kids so happy.

"Okay kids. Now we all have a gift for you guys. It's a set of shuriken and kunai. They come with weights and smoke bombs." said Tsunade.

Minato gave a box to Mina, Nawaki, and Mito. Each one eagerly opened their box to find costume made weapons.

"Where's my box Otosan?"question Naruto with a cocked head.

Kushina frowned at this. They were planning to train all four of their kids, but Minato and Jiraiya refused. They stated that the kids need to start training to control the kyuubi chakra soon. She remembered how hard it was to use the chakra.

"Sorry gaki, but you won't be joining the training. The reason why is because they will also be training with the kyuubi chakra and that will require all our help. You will need to start at the academy like all the others." stated Tsunade with a frown.

"She's right Naruto-kun. Starting at the academy would be best for you. The instructor there will be able to help you while we focus on your siblings and their chakra control."

"We don't know how long it would take. The three of them will need to learn many things in order to have good control of the chakra the nine tails contains. Not only that, but they need to be trained face to face with their us if they want to excel as shinobi and jinchūricki's of the nine tails". explained Minato.

Minato wants them ready to face anything that comes in their path. He's told Jiraiya about the man in the orange mask. His sensei believes he was after the nine tails and that he wanted to capture the tail beast to cause destruction to the whole world. If that's true, then the three kids were in danger. They were going to have to face that man.

'_If he extracts the kyuubi, my children will die by his hands.'_

Jiraiya was in his own thoughts. '_If what Minato was saying is true, then the kids will need to know everything they can and be trained to the ground.' _he glances at Naruto_.'Sacrifices will have to be made. Naruto will still be a Konoha ninja but he isn't important enough to be trained by Minato and Kushina. He will need to be trained at the academy. He might end up going to the reserves. At least the gaki will still be with his family. That will be his will of fire. To fight for and support his siblings.'_

Naruto was looking at his siblings and they were all looking at him. He understood that they needed to be trained because of the kyuubi, but he knows that they will make time for him. They were his family and they left nobody behind.

"Guess I can wait a while. You guys have the kyuubi sealed inside of you and that's a big deal. We will still be able to have fun together and maybe on your free time, you can show me all the cool stuff you learned. I might even pick something up from it." Naruto said with a big smile.

Everyone looked at him with a smile thinking he understood, but Jiraiya knew that Naruto will annoy his parents by asking to join the training in the future.

All four of the kids hugged each other. Naruto may not join the family training sessions, but they would spend every other minute together and nothing will stop them.

If only they knew the truth of how their relationship will become in the near future.

* * *

AN: I'll answer any questions that someone may have about this fanfic. I'll post about three or two chapters each week.


	3. Chapter 3

**I have been asked if I'd finish this fanfic by two followers in my inbox. The answer is yes.**

**Skull Flame: Guess You'll find out soon.**

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 3: Change Isn't Always Good

**Namikaze Compound**

Today was a big day in the village of Konohagakure. The villagers were getting decorations ready for the festivities that come with today. Kids were running around with masks and women were getting themselves cleaned up while the men where debating on who should start the fox hunt games outside of the village. Everyone was excited, especially the Namikaze family.

It was the birthday of the village heroes.

Yes, today was the day of their birth. It's also the day they defeated the nine tailed fox with the help of the Third Hokage.

Currently, the Namikazes were decorating the house for the fifth birthday party of the quadruplets. Mina is setting up the balloons with Mito, Kushina was preparing the food, Nawaki and Tsunade were getting the drinks ready, and Minato was cleaning.

"Kaa-san, when does the party start!" whined Nawaki.

Kushina turned to Nawaki. She was excited to celebrate their birthday with such as the Hyuga and Inuzuka are attending, much to the joy of Mina and Nawaki.

"In a few hours Nawaki. I know your excited for Kiba and a certain someone to come." Kushina said in a teasing voice.

She smirked when a blush appeared on his face. Four months ago, Mina had a playday with Hinata. It was the first time she came to the Namikaze compound. Nawaki was standing in the backyard eating a bowl of ramen on his lap. When she came outside to play shoji, he dropped his ramen broth on his pants. Kushina being next to him at the time could only smirk. Her little sochi had his first crush.

"Kaa-san! I told you before many that Hinata and I are just friends." stated Nawaki. He didn't like when people kept poking in his business. Ever since that day, any mention of Hinata would cause her to tease him.

"Stop teasing the boy Kushina-hime. He will admit his love for the girl when the time comes. For now let's finish the decorations."

Kushina couldn't hold back her laugh at the mention of her son confessing to the Hyuga Heiress. Just thinking about how Neji and Hiashi would react to Nawaki and Hinata dating is comical.

"Otousan, we're about finished with everything. Do need anymore help?" asked Mito with a smile.

Minato looked around the house and found nothing left for them to help clean and prepare.

"No you guys are fine, but you should start getting ready for early arrivals such as your godfather and Kakashi." stated Minato.

Nawaki's eyes brightened at the mention of Kaka-nii. Ever since their first conversation six months ago, Nawaki started seeing him as an idol. He strives to be stronger than him and Minato.

"Alright everyone, let's go get ready for the party!" yelled Mito.

If they have paid close attention, they would have noticed that Naruto has been missing.

* * *

**Namikaze Compound**

**Three days ago**

The family was doing their daily training exercises in the backyard of the compound. The three Namikaze- Uzumaki kids were doing chakra exercises. One particular one was the tree walking exercise. They were hanging upside down laughing at one another.

Watching this from a small window was a blond boy with violet eyes. He was looking at the scene with sad eyes. He understood that his siblings came first due to the kyuubi being sealed inside of them, but he couldn't understand why everything he loved changed so much. He rubbed his index and thumb together. Something he started doing after the first month of his siblings training.

When their training began, Naruto became a quiet person. He had developed depression three months after the start of the training.

'_In two weeks it will be a year since the start of the training'_ he thought.

As the training of his siblings progressed, Naruto's family started to change drastically.

Mito's personality changed. She used to be an energetic redhead with violet eyes full of love. Throughout her training, Mito thought about defeating Mina to prove she can be the heiress of the Uzumaki. She was so obsessed with it that she started thinking highly of herself to the point she had a big head. She was coincided with herself and only saw herself fit enough to be friends with clan heirs. If any outsider were to ask her out, she would laugh and turn them away. This included people who just wanted to be friends with her. If it wasn't for her hair and eyes, she would be able to pose as a Hyuga.

On first week of Nawaki's training, he had a prank holiday. Nawaki had pranked Sarutobi Asuma, Shiranui Genma, Morino Ibiki,and Ebisu. They had been subjected to pranks nobody deserves. Asuma had his cigarettes replaced with pepper, causing him to almost swollen it from a coughing fit. Genma had his senbon needles replaced with porcupine needles which caused him to take his hand to the hospital. Ebisu had two things sticking out of his person when walking to the onsen. An Icha Icha book and panties. His screams can be heard from all over the village. Ibiki had the worst of them all. He was stripped down and wore one of Maito Gai's green spandex jumpsuits. The next morning, pictures of him where spread to every shinobi in the village. Gai screamed about how youthful Ibiki looked while he tried to murder Nawaki

His last two pranks are what made an impacted. The first was sneaking into Konoha's water pipe systems and filling it with blond hair dye. The next morning, villagers woke up with sun kiss hair. Minato had received many complaints about that. That was nothing compared to what he did last.

He painted the Hokage monument.

Minato was disappointed with Nawaki. He had made him apologize to the people of the village for his behavior. Safe to say, Asuma and Ibiki still didn't like the boy. After having to apologize, Nawaki took his training more seriously. He was still the same goofball, but pranking became a thing of the past. The villagers were surprised that Nawaki hadn't pulled a pranked in so long.

Another thing that has changed is his behavior towards Naruto. He became more uncaring and distant. His eyes were filled with determination and pity. Naruto didn't know what to make of him until Nawaki told him that he will never be good enough to be a Jōnin and that he should start thinking about going to the reserves. These comments were said the sixth month of his training.

Naruto cried in his room. He refused to shed his tears in front of his otouto. Nawaki thought little of his onii-san. Naruto just wants Nawaki respect. The problem he's facing is finding a way to do that.

Then there was Mina. Naruto and Mina were the closest of all his siblings. Before the training started, Mina and Naruto were always together unless Nawaki took him away. They would read and play together. Naruto would often shield her from boys who would try to give her flowers. He had to admit his sisters were going to be very beautiful when they were older. Minato and Naruto would have to keep the boys away from her with a pole.

His favorite thing to do with his sister was actually playing shoji. Since they were the only children that were quiet in the family, it was the perfect game. Especially since they were very competitive towards each other. Naruto was Mina's perfect opponent in everything. Naruto was pretty sure If he was apart of their family training, Mina would challenge him every single time. Naruto was never one to refuse any challenges and bets that were thrown at him.

When they started family training, Mina would always hang out in Naruto's room when she had time. They would read until sleep overtook them and he'd wake up to a clinging Mina mumbling about a warm puppy. Mina would also try to get a good round of shoji with him before breakfast.

This left a very tired Mina participating in her training. Eventually, she started to drift away. Mina unconsciously decided to focus more on her training and spending her free time catching up on sleep or studying the many scrolls in the compounds library. When Naruto asked her if she wanted to play shogi with him, she would tell him in an irritating voice that she was busy. Completely missing the disappointment on his face.

Naruto understood that his siblings never training, but this was ridiculous. They acted like a war was coming!

He was more upset at his parents. They have neglected him the most.

Kushina forgot to cook him food everyday. Since his siblings had to wake up early to train, Kushina never considered make enough so Naruto can have some. So far, he only made himself rice and eggs. He was growing tired of eating that the past months. Not to mention that ramen was what was usually left over. '_What's with the family's obsession with ramen anyways?'_

He had to rely on himself for his basic needs. He started doing his own laundry and had to sneak money from his mother to go and buy food and clothes. He knew he'd eventually have to learn to cook for himself.

As for Minato, he hadn't spoken to him in months. There was really nothing for them to say to each other. He was the Hokage and on top of his paperwork, he had to help train the kids.

Naruto sighed to himself. He still help hope for his family. They wouldn't just leave him behind and forget about him completely. It goes against what his parents raised him to believe.

'_We are a family. Family doesn't abandon each other. I want you to remember if you plan to be a ninja of the village, you must know what you are fighting for.' _preached his Otosan.

Naruto shook his head and left his room. He decided to walk to the forest of death since it would increasing his depression if he stayed in the house any longer. It was the only place he can go for peace. If he stayed at the compound, he'll hear all the commotion for his family's training. Naruto put on his long sleeve blue shinobi jacket and a green scarf. It wasn't too cold, but he didn't want to get sick.

Naruto hasn't gone too far into the forest because the first time he entered with Nawaki he was able to hear large animals for many kinds. That and he was afraid of Anko. He knew he shouldn't be going because of the possibility of him getting killed, but he didn't want to be found at the moment.

Being in the forest brought a feeling of adrenaline into his body that he really liked and caused him to enjoy his time there. The forest made him feel like a man. '_There is no way I'm going to be afraid of a stupid forest.'_

Once he arrived, he crawled under a hole the gate had to the left side of the forest. He walked for three minutes and then leaned on a tree. He closed his eyes and sinked into his thoughts.

'_What's my goal in life? I don't really have one. All I've wanted to do was be a ninja, but I haven't really had a goal in life. Nawaki wants to be the Hokage, Mito wants to be the Uzumaki Heiress and Mina wants to make the Uzumaki name known again despite her being a Namikaze. I don't really have anything. I've always thought of the family.'_

Naruto frowned. What was the point of being a ninja if you don't have a dream. Naruto thought back to a time he felt happy. All he thought about was his family before they started training. He hasn't really done anything himself. He always did what others wanted. He didn't even have his own hobbies.

'_Nawaki likes to prank and compare ramen on his free time. I don't like ramen that much. Mito likes to read about the Uzumaki go shopping on her free time. I don't shop if I don't have to replace clothes. Mina likes to plant flowers and read on wars the Uzumaki fought.' _Naruto thought in irritation.

"What the hell are you doing here gaki!"

Naruto quickly turned to see an angry Anko. She was still angry about Nawaki's dango prank. Naruto ran when she came closer. He was fast even for his age. He heard Anko yelling for him to come and face her like a man. One thing he learned was never to turn your back on the angry snake lady when she's talking to you, but he couldn't help to run away in fear. He turned his head back to see if she was following him, but he tripped on a rock. Looking around he found what looked like a cave to his left. It looks very scary for a soon to be five years old kid. Turning his head back in the direction of Anko's voice he knew he had two options, either face Anko's wrath or hide deep in the cave and pray.

"I'm coming for ya!" screamed the crazy lady in a sickly sweet voice.

His choice made, Naruto ran for the cave. He made sure to jog once inside and kept his breathe low. He was not going to be snake food again. He turned around to find it completely dark he didn't know how long he ran into the cave. "_It was small on the outside. How is it so big!'_

Turning back to the inside of the cave, he found a light.

'_Maybe it's one of those two way caves. You can get in and out on each end.'_

Happy to find a way out, Naruto continued walking.

Finally reaching the light, Naruto was greeted to a sight he never expected. A beautiful tropical forest with a large waterfall. All kinds of vegetation and life growing all around. There was a wide clearing with a few rocks and pebbles near by the roaring waterfall. Stepping into the clearing he noticed a pedestal made of rocks. Walking closer, he found four swords in scabbards. The one that interested him the most was what appeared to be a straight blade with a sheath painted black. The swords has a circular hand-guard with a pure black hilt that almost looked shining.

Naruto carefully picked up the blade so it was laying on his hands. '_Why does it feel so right in my hands?'_

Naruto wanted to see the blade out of its sheath. He grabbed the sheath with his left hand and the handle with his right. He slowly pulled the sword out. He looked at the sword and couldn't help but stare at the sword in awe. That was until he felt unimaginable pain all over his body.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"screamed Naruto to the sky while holding onto the sword.

He refused to let go of both the sword and the sheath. The pain felt like it lasted for hours. His veins burned and his body felt like it was on fire. Eventually, it stopped and Naruto fell to darkness.

* * *

Naruto woke with a sore body. He felt as if he had been electrictrified for hours. Standing up, he looked at his surroundings while rubbing his right eye. He was still in the tropical jungle. '_It was real?'_

"Its real gaki."

Naruto whipped his head around. Standing in front of him was the coolest looking man he had ever seen. He was very muscular. His skin was tanned and he has cropped green hair. He looked to have scars on his body. The man wore an open dark-green coat that was closed on the waist and wore a red sash. His chest was exposed and revealed to have a green haramaki. On his chest, there was a long horizontal scar. His eye was closed revealing a vertical cut. The man also wore a row of three piercings on his ear.

"Who are you?!" Naruto screamed.

The man couldn't help but think that the boy reminded him of Luffy and himself.

"My name is Roronoa Zoro."

Naruto looked him in the eye. '_Could this be the man who owns the swords?'_

"I'm the guy who soul is stuck the that sword you opened and those are my swords."

Naruto went wide eyed at that. If a soul was trapped inside a sword, wouldn't that make it cursed? If that's true then does that make him cursed? Naruto's mind was going on turbo.

"Oi! Stop thinking too hard. It's giving me a headache. Look, the sword you opened deemed you worthy enough to use. The pain you felt was testing if you could use the sword. Since you are still alive, you passed with flying colors. Though, I don't see why you can wield me, considering you're pathetic. I mean looking back at your memories, I can tell you never really thought about yourself. Also, I don't like your family."

Naruto looked like he'd been slapped by Tsunade. Did he just read his mind?

"Stop searching my mind you violator!"

"I'm not a violator you baka!"screamed Zoro."When the sword deems you worthy, we instantly became connected. Which also means you can't get rid of me!"

Naruto looked at him skeptically. He barely met this man. He didn't look like a ninja and he looked like he was from a different era. He couldn't help but wonder if he was older that Hashirama. Maybe he could be as old as the kyuubi. It sounds far fetched, but can it be possible?

"It's possible. I'm from what's known as the pirate era. I used to be a pirate from that era and was wanted worldwide. I was considered the best swordsman of my time. I was wanted dead or alive for a lot of money. More than you parents combined. I'm actually older than those chakra beasts I see you have read about."

Naruto couldn't help but wonder if he knows everything he had seen and done his entire life because of his new connection with the sword.

"Yes, I know everything about you baka." stated Zoro while looking at him with his narrowed eye.

"I don't like what I've seen from you. You are a weakling who lets people who lets people step on you. You are someone who can't see the reality of his parents wanting to better his siblings instead of all of their children. A family is what you used to have. If they neglect you, let them. You should focus on yourself for once kid. You need to know your worth."

The clearing was quiet. Naruto looked at him with anger in his eyes. Who was he to say such things. He knew nothing of family, especially his.

"You'll see what I'm saying soon. I don't care if you don't believe or even trust me right now. Just know that from now on wherever you go, I'll go. Also, you've been asleep for three days."stated Zoro while picking up the sword. He plunged it back into the sheath. Leaning over, he gave the sword to Naruto who couldn't help but grab it.

"You should be heading back. It's your birthday, so I think the crazy snake lady is at the festival stuffing her face with dango. I'll be in your mind for now. Being in that cramped sword for so long isn't that comfy. Plus, if you don't mind, I'll be going over what's changed in the world since my imprisonment."

Naruto nodded at this. If he was stuck in the sword, he'd like to know how things have changed. Then realization dawned on him.'_It's my birthday!'_

He dashed out of the cave. His kaa-chan is probably worried about him. He needed to get to the compound before it was too late. Running out of the forest of death, he entered the civilian districts. Naruto had bumped into civilians that told him to watch where he was going. Since the village streets were too crowded, he decided to take the alleyways. He fell in two dirty puddles staining his clothes. Naruto ran all the way to the other side of the village until he finally made it to the compound. He smiled hearing noise coming from the inside of the compound.

Naruto opened the door and-

"Happy Birthday to the Heroes of the Hidden Leaf!"

* * *

AN: I hope this chapter was enough for this week. Zoro is trapped in the cursed sword. The swordsman the fifth major character in this story.

Chapter 4 will be posted next week.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the late chapter. I got sick, so I'll post when I can.

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 4: New and Better

"2,000!"

Breathing heavily, Naruto climbed off the boulder in the clearing. He was currently exercising in the rainforest. Zoro was sleeping in the shade of a palm tree with a bottle saki in his hand.

'_I never expected him to stay awake when I exercise. The only times he's awake is when we make it a competition.'_

The past two years have been the greatest Naruto ever had. Ever since _that _day on his birthday, Naruto had changed to a person he never imagined himself becoming.

At first, he hated his _family_ because of everything that had happened to him in his life, but decided to move past his hatred and only care for himself. He just dislikes his blood relatives and hates Jiraiya.

He had Zoro to thank for everything that happened so far in his life. He kinda felt like Zoro was his family. He was there for him every step of the way. In many ways, Zoro had rubbed off on him. It turns out that Naruto had developed some of Zoro's interests like his fascination with swords, his blunt replies, and his extreme exercise regiment. Some of the things they both enjoy before meeting each other was sleeping and fishing. Naruto found out that while the Namikaze had a love for ramen. Naruto had a love for fish and meat.

On good days, he would be at his favorite restaurant eating fish and grilled meat. He became the best customer of Kumiko's Sushi and BBQ. He even met the owner. The owner stated that when Naruto became a ninja and was ranked chunin, she would let him eat the food with her popular saki. Just so she can motivate him, she gave him a small taste of saki to go with his mutton. After that, Naruto was determined to make chunin on his first try. He never thought that saki could taste so good.

'_It's more than good, it amazing.'_

'_I see you're awake Zoro-nii.'_

Zoro stretched his body. He had been watching Naruto for half the day. In the middle of his training, he fell asleep without a word. Just because he was dead and his soul sealed to a sword doesn't mean he wouldn't be able to sleep.

"Finally finished with training?"

"Just for now. I still have to meet with my other sensei." Naruto stated.

His other sensei was what many claimed to be a slave driver, but Naruto and Zoro saw her as the perfect sensei.

**Flashback**

Naruto was sitting on a tree in the forest of death with a box of dango in his hands. Normally, Naruto wouldn't be this far into the forest, but ever since Naruto meet Zoro, the creature of the forest stayed away from him. Zoro claimed it's because they gave a powerful aura to the animals.

'_I hear someone coming. They'll be here in less than a few seconds' _

'_Thanks Zoro.'_

Standing in the tree in front of him was a curious looking Anko.

"I would have taken the box already, but I don't want dango to explode in my face. I also want to know why the Hokage's son is in the middle of the forest of death and not scream for their mommy."

Naruto kept a straight face. It was rare to see him smile and show emotions anymore.

"I'm not Nawaki, so I don't prank. Also, I came to make a deal with you. No forest or deadly animal is going to stop me from making this deal."

Anko was filled with curiosity for the blond gaki at this point. No one has ever came here to do anything with her. Not even to inform her of missions until she exits the forest.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush. My family doesn't want to train me because my siblings are more important for having the kyuubi sealed inside them. You are a tokubetsu jonin and someone who works in the Torture and Interrogation division of Konohagakure along side Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanaka. Not to mention you are rebound for being one of the shinobi who had been trained by the snake." Naruto informed her. "I'm willing to pay you a box dango for each training session we have. Trust me I can afford it"

In the inside, Anko was fuming. She has only had a little respect for Minato. If it weren't for the council, she might not have been a kunoichi of Konoha. She knew Minato was against her being a shinobi because she used to be Orochimaru's apprentice. He believed her to be a spy. Over the years, she was able to earn his trust.

She couldn't process why he was unwillingness to train his son. Naruto would be chunin if he just learned the academy basics. She can tell that Naruto has the potential to become a great ninja. If his actions and words were any indication, Naruto could be the next head of the TI department in Konoha. He can even be a Kage.

In her mind, she knew that Naruto was similar to herself. They were thought of as nothing special and others were put above them. She did get worse treatment than Naruto. After all, she was known as 'The Snake Whore'.

Should she teach the gaki? That would be too much work. She didn't like playing teacher and she didn't have time for snot nose brats that can't take a beating.

She looked at Naruto and was about to reject his request, but saw something she didn't expect. His eyes were burning with power and determination the kind that reminded her of herself. Maybe she'll give him a shot.

"Alright gaki, I'll be your sensei for your training until your graduation year at the academy. Just so ya know, I never go easy on people. If you can't keep up with my training or even complain, you can find someone else. I agree to the box of dango in every training session, but I want two if you want things like knowing your chakra affinities and jutsu." She stated with crossed arms.

Naruto couldn't help but smirk.'_She'd better give me her best.'_

"Okay. Now, here's some dango just to seal the deal."

He threw the box of dango to her, which she caught with delight. His business finished, Naruto climbed off the tree and headed home for a shower.

**Flashback Ended**

Naruto walked out of the clearing and into the cave. He should arrive to Anko's training spot in less than three minutes. Jumping through trees, he finally arrived to see Anko patiently waiting.

Anko wouldn't admit it, but Naruto had grown on her quickly. She was weary of him at first because of his 'reputation' of pranking with Nawaki, but later discovered that Naruto was nothing like his brother. She quickly found out that he wasn't a pervert, which shocked her since his family was perverts because of Jiraiya. The only time she'd get a reaction from him was in public. He would blush and demand her to stop.

She also noticed he had an interest in swords, weights, and sadistic training regimes.

The last part was too perfect for her. Naruto was a firm believer of 'no pain, no gain'. He never complained about his training. During his breaks, he would use the time to use the bit of medical jutsu he knew to heal himself and then continue with the sadistic regiments she made for him. His favorite training was being chased by a giant snake. He said that the adrenaline helps motivate his training.

Today, she decided to finally know what are his elemental affinity.

"Okay Naruto, today we're going to pause training. I decided it's time to learn your elemental affinity. No dango will be needed for this knowledge."

Naruto being a kind hearted boy, still gave her dango.

"I know you already unlocked you chakra."stated Anko."With that done, all you need to do is pour some of your chakra into this paper."

"When you pour your chakra into the paper, it will cause a reaction. If it splits in have you have Futon (Wind), if it wrinkles then you have Raiton (Lightning), If it crumples then you have Doton(Earth). You have Suiton (Water) it'll become soggy. Finally, if it turns to ash then you have Katon (Fire)."

She handed Naruto the paper. Anko was really interested in seeing the results. When he unlocked his chakra, it felt nothing like his parents. Naruto's chakra felt strong. She never felt anything like it from someone so young. His chakra also gave a peaceful and savage feeling depending on his state of mind.

Naruto stared at the paper for a while. He had wondered what his affinity was for a long time. He knew it would either be futon and suiton because of his parents. Shaking his head, Naruto poured his chakra into his paper.

The results were shocking.

The paper flew out of Naruto's hands. First split in half, then half the paper caught on fire quickly while the other half was soggy with water dripping heavily from the paper. They became dumbfounded when the paper was savagely cut on both sides. Anko gave Naruto five more chakra papers just to confirm this phenomenon and it ended with the same results.

This was definitely not normal. Not only did the paper show him having three affinities, but it resulted in all of them being so powerful. Normally, if Naruto was to have the Futon, Suiton, and Katon the results should have been shown differently. The paper would have split in half and then half would be ash while the other half was damp. What Naruto just showed was not normal in the slightest.

'_Maybe it's a bloodline, but Minato and Kushina haven't shown any signs of something like this. Kushina has chakra chains, but it couldn't cause this to happen. Where did katon even come from?! Naruto's family doesn't have katon users.' _

While Anko was thinking this, Naruto and Zoro were having their own conversation.

'_I'm responsible for your increase power. Wind will be what your highest in because of your connection with the sword.'_

'_So you don't know why I have Katon?'_

'_I don't know Naruto. I just know that if you use wind chakra with the swords. You'll be a dangerous opponent.'_

Over the two years, Naruto was ordered by Zoro to borrow library books about the history of chakra and medical books. He wanted them to both learn more about the shinobi arts. Zoro hates bandages and found that medical jutsu was helpful. He wanted to learn more about chakra so he could apply it to Naruto's training.

When Zoro read about chakra affinities and kekkei genkais, he scoffed. He claimed that in his era they had devil fruit powers. He never ate one. He didn't need that in order to be a swordsman. From what Zorro read, The Village Hidden in the Mist had something called The Seven Swordsman. These were ninja Swordsman of course. He also read about Land of Iron.

Naruto had informed Zoro that he was going to be a ninja, not a samurai. He did inform Zoro that he would research swordsman. It's that decision that made him hooked on swordsmanship. Zoro also informed him of the swordsman of his era. From what Naruto learned, he has five admirers he'd liked to surpass. These swordsman are Dracule Mihawk, Mifune, Hoshigaki Kisame, Momochi Zabuza, and Roronoa Zoro.

"Alright gaki, let's put this aside for right now and get you warmed up with a game called 'Dodge the Kunai and Shuriken"

Naruto smirked and go ready to feel the burn.

* * *

**Village Streets**

Naruto was heading to his favorite restaurant in Konoha. He didn't accomplish much today, but he did learn many surprising things. The village streets weren't so busy today. Many people were just standing and talking to others. He didn't really talk to others except Zoro. He didn't mind the loneliness. He was an introvert.

'_After you eat, make sure sneak in your father's library. We need to start you on basic jutsu. You're going to be a ninja. That means you need jutsu.'_

Zoro was also an introvert when he was a pirate. He liked being with his crew mates, but he would mostly spend time on his own. He was very social with two of them named Nami and Sanji, but that's usually by arguing. He also had short conversations with a woman named Robin. Besides that he would only talk with them when he was bored or doing something productive. He missed his friends and wished to have spent more time with them. They were his family and best friends.'_Even the Ero-Cook.' _thought Zoro with a somber smile.

Naruto was about to turn the corner when he bumped into someone's shoulder. The person was looking down at what appeared to be a muffin. Naruto picked up the muffin from the ground. He looked back at the person to find a fair skinned girl.

She had black short shoulder length hair with bangs covering her forehead. She was wearing black shorts with a dark green jacket zipped up to her chest. She had ninja bandages covering up her ankles and black shinobi sandals.

Naruto looked into her shining green eyes seeing she was mad.

"Gomen, I didn't mean to bump into you like that. I should have been more careful. If you'd let me, I would like to pay for another muffin. I can tell it's your favorite food. I know what it's like to have it ruined."

Anko felt like getting revenge on Naruto for Nawaki's prank. She put laxatives inside his drink when he went to Kumiko's for dinner. He learned to check his drink before consuming it.

The girl nodded her head and they walked down the street together. They arrived at a bakery he recalled Hinata going to for cinnamon rolls. Once they entered, they were greeted to an old man and woman.

"Oh! I see you came for more muffins. Would you like a blueberry or raspberry muffin?"

The girl pointed at the blueberry muffin

"Actually, can I get both for the girl. I'm paying for her."

The old man looked at Naruto with curious eyes. The old man looked to be around 80 years old. He looked fit for his age.

"Oh. You must be the boyfriend. To be young and in love. Only seven days since you moved here and you have the Hokage's oldest son as a boyfriend. You really know how to catch them girl." sang the old women.

Compared to the old man, the old woman looked frail and flimsy. She looked like a kind grandmother.

Naruto gaped at her with a slight blush. If he had looked at the girl, he would see her face blushing as well.

"Y-you are mistaken ma'am. I accidentally bumped into her and dropped her muffin. It's only fair I pay for these ones."

'_You're such a Baka.'_

Naruto ignored Zoro.

The old man nodded with a knowing smile. He handed the girl her freshly made muffins while Naruto handed him the money. Naruto and the unknown girl left the bakery.

Naruto stated walking with the girl by her side.

"So, your new here?"

The girl nodded. It made Naruto smile.

"Well I hope you enjoy being here. I don't so much, but it has its moments."

They kept walking down the street until they reached his destination.

"I apologize again for what happened. My name is Naruto but you can call me Naru." he said while bowing.

She smiled at his actions."My name is Shizuka. You don't need to apologize anymore."

Naruto smiled he's only ever talked to one person outside his 'family'. He felt like he made a good friend. Waving goodbye to Shizuka, he entered his favorite restaurant. If he turned around, he would find Shizuka hadn't moved from her spot.

* * *

**Namikaze Compound**

The Namikaze's were currently having dinner. They were eating ramen to celebrate the children's success in controlling their first tail state. For the past years, the Namikaze kids have been progressing fabulously. Nawaki was currently the strongest of the three while Mito was the weakest.

The dinner table was full of life. Mina and Mito were currently arguing about who is the prettiest red head. Kushina and Nawaki were currently talking about how to get on the Hyuga's good side. Minato chuckled when he heard Kushina suggested to apologize for calling Hisashi a moron. Nawaki wouldn't do that because he kept degrading Hinata and her abilities to be a strong clan heiress.

The boy was crazy for her.

Minato was startled when he heard the door close. '_Maybe it was my imagination.'_

Nobody could get passed the Namikaze seals. Only a Namikaze could enter.

Minato was a master of many things. He was said to be an intelligent person of his time, but he forgot something no parent would ever forget. He forgot about his eldest son, Naruto.

* * *

**Naruto's Room**

Naruto was currently on his desk reading about the three sannin of Konoha. He was hesitant at first. These were his 'godparents'. He didn't see them as godparents, especially Jiraiya. He needed to know what the sannin were capable of in their prime. He read the whole book. It took him about an hour. Thanks to his photographic memory, he finished earlier than expected. He laughed a little at what he read.

Jiraiya was a renowned pervert. Apparently, the Ero-Sage was the writer of the Icha-Icha Paradise books. This now means that everytime he caught the pervert peeping, he can punish him. Naruto learned a lot of punishment techniques from Anko. He was a bit of a sadistic boy. In Yu no Kuni, a perverted sage felt a shiver run down his spine.

From what he read, Jiraiya is a ninjutsu and spy expert, Tsunade is a medical expert, and Orochimaru is a poison and experimental expert. They are the best in their field.

'_They all have summon contracts?' asked Zoro._

'_The Namikaze have the toad and slug contracts. Maybe when I graduate from the academy, I can try summoning. Now I need to copy some basic jutsu from the Namikaze library. Honestly, I need to take advantage of that while I live here.'_

Naruto was planning to move out when he graduated the academy. Thanks to Zoro, he had gold from his era. That gold is worth more than Konohagakure itself. He already was rich. The only person who knew was his banker. Naruto has his own volt and seals. Only he can access his money. He didn't have to rely on the Namikazes for his basic necessities.

Naruto made sure the family was asleep and then went to copy jutsus in his black scroll with white ink.

* * *

AN: **I'm lookin for a Beta reader. I don't have much time to fix my mistakes, so if your interested, please send me a response in my PM. **


	5. Chapter 5

Welcome back! I'm still sick, so I hope you enjoy this chapter for the week. Starting next week, I'll post two chapters a week.

Greer123 - Thanks! That was the plan the whole time.

Zero fullbuster - This is what happens next.

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 5: The First Day

All good things come to an end. It was that time of year, the start of Konohagakure's Ninja Academy. The Namikaze was currently eating breakfast. Nawaki and Mina were fighting for the last egg while Mito was getting her hair combed by Kushina. Minato already left to prepare the entrance speech for the new students.

Once they were all prepared, they left for the academy. They never noticed Naruto left an hour early.

* * *

Ninja Academy

Families had arrived to see their children and the Hokage in the entrance ceremony. It was traditional that every year, the Hokage gives a speech about the academy and what it means to be a ninja. Families were talking with their children, giving them advice and inspiration. Everyone was smiling except for three people. These were Naruto, Shizuka, and Tayaka.

Naruto was leaning against a tree with a swing. He was looking at the sky with no expression on his face. He had to put up with four years at the academy and stupid lectures. He has to do shuriken and taijutsu practice. Last week before the start of the academy, Zoro suggested keeping all his scores in the academy to a minimum. He won't be the best in the class and wouldn't be the lowest ranking student. Naruto was not going to show his true potential if it's not necessary. He knew that Minato doesn't check the students' progress throughout the years until the three-day break before team assignments.

'I feel like I'm going on a mission of deception.'

'Why didn't you bring the sword to school?'

'Because I don't want to risk attention until graduation. My academy instructor is in charge of seeing and grading my scores. They will be the ones to know my choice to show none of my true potentials and will be able to see through the deception. The only problem for them will be not knowing my true abilities. That's the overall goal for my time in the academy.' responded Naruto.

'If you didn't tell me to jump into you, I would have made the sword appear by your side. I explained to you a lot of times that I must either be in the sword or by your side, even if I have to appear in my soul form.

Remember, you thought it was creepy not to use my ghost form while training you to the dirt.'

Naruto made a face at that. Having a black orb following and instructing you was weird.

A few feet away from him was the Uchiha family. They were a family Naruto holds with little respect. The clan head Fugaku and his wife Mikoto were with their two children. Itachi was smiling at his brother. Today he would become an academy student. He bent down and poked his forehead. Mikoto was laughing lightly at them while Fugaku was looking at Sasuke in thought.

A bit to the side of them was Uchiha Shisui. He came to see his little imouto start the academy. She had a rough life and wanted to become a ninja just like him. She was considered an outcast to the Uchiha clan due to problems that were out of her control.

She had long flowing black hair that reached her lower back. She wore grey shinobi pants with a high collared black shirt that had the Uchiha crest on her back. Her eyes kept shut. She also wore black fingerless gloves and grey shinobi sandals.

She turned her head towards her brother. "Shisui-nii, do you think it's a good idea for me to become a ninja? With my special problems, should I represent the clan?"

Shisui smiled at his sister.

His sister is strong. She has endured the disappointment and repressing that the clan forced upon her. Because of this, he knew that his sister was a born fighter.

The truth, she had more talent than he was at her age. If she only can be herself without constantly having to turn her back, she could've been a prodigy in the Uchiha. Hell, she could beat Sasuke around for days. He did not doubt that her future would shine bright if it weren't for Danzo and the clan. Hell, she could beat Sasuke around for days. He did not doubt that her future would shine bright if it weren't for Danzo and the clan.

He had to thank Naruto for both being her first friend and slapping some sense into her.

'Though if he touches her again..' he thought ominously.

"Don't worry, Tayaka. I know you will do great. You also have a friend to help you."

Tayaka smiled at that. She hates to act differently because her clan forced her. She wanted to be able to be herself, but the Uchiha clan was forcing her to be meek and obedient. Her brother had assured her that in the future, she would be able to be herself and keep her eyes open. She just had to wait for the day Danzo and ROOT die. For now, she had to play her part. She had trained her whole life to deceive. One day it will pay off.

'I feel the wind of change coming sooner than expected.'

On the far right of the academy, Shizuka was being accompanied by her 'mother', Tokiwa. She knew that her time with her was short, but she promised to make the best of it. Her 'mother' Tokiwa was confirmed to be dying. While traveling to Konoha, Tokiwa was poisoned by an assassin who was hired to hunt them down. The assassin wore a headband with a song note on it. It was confirmed that he was a poison expert. They had managed to get away at the time, but Tokiwa was starting to feel ill on their journey. It took three days long to reach the village because of her wounds. The poison had been taken from her body when they arrived in Konoha, but she has only five years to live because of the small amount of poison that couldn't be removed completely. She hated a bastard named Jiraiya for trying to get her to hug a blond idiot for comfort when she was told her closest family was dying.

Currently, she was scouting the area for a similar blond boy. Tokiwa notices this and couldn't help but smirk. She knew all about the interaction Shizuka has with the blond gentleman. Tokiwa had been watching them from a distance the entire time. In reality, she had already approved of the boy. He gives off an intimidating and wise aura. 'No doubt, he'll be incredibly strong in the future. Now let's see how the princess reacts."

"Shizuka, are you looking for the strong purple-eyed blonde?" she questioned.

Shizuka had a slight blush on her cheek. Tokiwa grinned at her reaction.

"Oh, look! He's leaning up on that tree with his arms crossed. Look at his jawline and that face. He looks much more like a man on a mission than anything."

Shizuka was looking intensely at him. She looked like she was analyzing a painting made by god. Tokiwa couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Pffff-hahaha!"

Shizuka turned and glared at the women. She was acting more like an aniki than a kaa-san.

'She was the perfect example of a ninja in our old village, but now that she's no longer a kunoichi, she's a completely different person.'

"It's not funny!"

Tokiwa calmed herself down. She was about to apologize when she heard someone asking for everyone's attention.

Everyone gathered around as the Hokage was about to speak.

"Good morning, everyone! I hope you are enjoying yourself with your kids, who will be entering the academy soon. As the Fourth Hokage, it's my honor to see kids leave and enter our shinobi academy to become protectors of our village. Being a ninja of Konohagakure-"

Naruto was paying attention to Minato until he heard him say what it means to be a family. Naruto thought the rest of the speech was pure bullshit after that. He agreed with what it means to be a ninja, but that was all.

"Now, I will be reading off the three academy instructors for this year's students!" Minato announcement while pulling out an envelope." This year's chunin instructors will be Funeni Daikoku, Umino Iruka, and Morino Ren. Please listen for your name and say goodbye to your parents. Thank you for your time and have a great first day at the academy!"

With that said, he left in a flash.

"Alright now that we have the stage, please listen for your name."

Naruto ended up in the same group with his siblings under Iruka. He noticed that he had a lot of clan heirs in his class. The Nara being the most interesting.

With everyone in the class here, they headed inside. The classroom had desks that are in rows of three. Each one had enough room for three people. Iruka instructed them to pick out seats, so Naruto started to look for the farthest one. Naruto decided to sit in the back of the classroom. He chose to sit in the second chair available and leaned back.

"I see you made yourself comfortable with the chair."

Naruto couldn't help but smile when he saw Tayaka take the seat next to him. She was next to the window looking outside.

"I see you're still keeping up the charade."

They heard the other chair slide open and turned to see Shizuka sitting beside Naruto.

"It's nice to see you again, Naruto."

Naruto made a small smile. They have only talked once, but Shizuka was someone he knew that was going to be his friend.

"Ah, Shizuka-san. I didn't know you'd be attending the academy." said Naruto while gesturing to Tayaka, "This is my other friend Uchiha Tayaka."

Shizuka smiled and nodded towards the Uchiha. Tayaka just threw her a peace sign. It was very out of character, but she felt like she could trust the girl a little since she's friends with Naruto.

Shizuka smiled at her antics. She never had any friends. She was still trying to get comfortable with her new civilian life.

"Alright, class, my name is Iruka, and welcome to your first day at the ninja academy. Now today, we're going to go over our routines and lessons for the year."

By the time he finished explaining everything, lunch was about to start. He dismissed everyone early to get acquainted with their classmates.

Naruto, Tayaka, and Shizuka were the last people to leave the classroom.

* * *

Academy Roof

The girls followed Naruto to the roof of the academy. They knew that they'd be spending a lot of time here. One thing that they all had in common was staring at the sky and the clouds.

Somewhere in the cafeteria, someone sneezed.

"Troublesome"

Naruto leaned against a railing while the girls started to chatter with each other.

"I didn't know Naruto had another friend. He's so antisocial that he usually spends time with himself. I don't even see him spending time with his family."

"I moved here with my mother. I wanted to become a ninja. Konohagakure was the one that came to mind. After all, Kumo and Suna were the least likely to accept outsiders. Kirigakure has a civil war and Iwagakure acted like pricks. Konoha sounded like a great village, plus, it snows here. She likes the snow. So, I'm not complaining.", stated Shizuka. She wanted to tell the truth, but she didn't trust Tayaka yet.

Naruto was thinking around the same lines. She had more than just that story. Naruto heard his father saying something about Nadeshiko Village a long time ago, but didn't want to jump to any conclusions until he was sure. Shizuka came out when she felt it was time to be truthful.

Tayaka also felt she was hiding something, but dismissed it. Tayaka is quite observant of her age. She saw that Shizuka didn't trust her yet. She couldn't blame her. They just met today. She also noticed that Naruto also held information back. He was very secretive. Tayaka knew that the group needed to trust each other before they could be open about their scars. With these things in mind, she decided to get things started.

"You guys wanna hang out after class. I heard of this cool bar near Ichiraku's that has some great sushi. They obviously won't give us saki, but many people go for the food anyways."

Naruto nodded at this. Anko was on a mission, so he wanted to play it safe with the cave. So, he decided that he wouldn't venture through it this week. Plus, it gave him a chance to know his two new friends better. Maybe he would let them join his plan for the academy.

'Maybe these girls could be good teammates.' stated Zoro.

"I'll come, but I suggest going to Kumiko's instead. Trust me, the food there is fantastic."

Shizuka just glanced at Naruto. It turns out that the bakery was only a few stores away from Kumiko's. Every time she goes for the daily muffin, she catches him eating vegetables and meat. 'At least he doesn't go daily.'

"I'll go too."

"Great! It will be like a celebration for entering the academy. I'm sure it will be lots of fun."

Naruto smiled a little when Tayaka threw a fist in the air. He can already tell she's going to be a handful. When it's just Naruto and Shisui, Tayaka acts like a bomb ready to explode. Unlike Nawaki, who doesn't have control over his emotions, Tayaka can be energetic one minute and stern the next. In some ways, she reminded him of Anko.

For the remaining time in lunch, the three of them discussed their likes and dislikes.

Naruto was surprised to discover that they shared a common interest. They all loved training above anything else. Naruto and Tayaka had told Shizuka that they trained every day to improve their physiques and capabilities for missions.

Shizuka had asked them if they like to read about anything in the library, which excited Naruto. Tayaka, on the other hand, only groaned.

When Naruto mentioned weight lifting as his favorite activity, Shizuka started blushing.

'This baka is clueless when it comes to girls! I wasn't a romance type of guy when I was still alive, but at least I can get a clue!' thought Zoro in disbelief.

They heard Iruka yell to the kids outside that class would start in two minutes, so they headed to Iruka's classroom.

* * *

Village Streets

They were finally let out of the academy. Tayaka told Shisui she would be with Naruto and Shizuka. Shisui was more than happy to let her go. He thought that Naruto was a good influence on her. She can be herself with him. Plus, she made another friend. He didn't see why she couldn't go.` If things work out as I hope, maybe I can be their sensei.'

Walking back to her group, they started walked to Kumiko. People were crowding the streets. Men and Women were acting lively and interacting with one another. In general, the village looked lively.

On their way to Kumiko, Shizuka stopped. Her new friends turn to look at her.

"I forgot I needed to get food for my Kaa-san. She wanted for me to bring takeout from Ichiraku's ramen."

Naruto tensed for a small moment before returning to normal. Shizuka and Tayaka noticed his behavior.

"I can just make her something from Kumiko's." offered Shizuka.

Naruto shook his head. "It's fine. Let's go get the ramen and then drop it off at your place."

Naruto started to walk to Ichiraku's while the girls followed him worriedly.

* * *

Ichiraku's Ramen

Mina was having her bowl of miso ramen. She was supposed to eat dinner with her family later but decided to have a bowl so she could be focusing more on training.

She heard footsteps behind her and found the civilian girl in her class looking through the menu.

"I'll get the miso ramen to go, please."

The waitress Ayame went to give the order to her Otosan-san. Mina took a closer look at the two people behind her. One was the Uchiha reject she heard about from Sasuke. 'She's pretty.'

The last person was one she didn't expect. Right next to the Uchiha was her Naruto-nii. He looked so different from what she remembered. He wore a navy blue long sleeve jacket with the word sword written down his sleeve in white. His cargo shorts were dark green. He was wearing what looked to be a green bandana around his biceps. His shinobi sandals were light grey. What confused her was that she couldn't see the Uzumaki or Namikaze symbol on him.

'Maybe it's on his back. I've been so concentrated on training that I don't even remember the last time I spent with Naruto-nii.'

"Hi Naruto-nii!" she said with joy in her voice.

What surprised her was Naruto tensing at the nii part of her sentence. Naruto looked at her with empty eyes and just nodded at her.

Tayaka and Shizuka were the only ones who noticed the small amount of anger and sadness in his eyes.

'Looks like I'm not the only one with clan drama.' thought an amused Tayaka.

Shizuka received her order from Ayame and left the stand. None of them saw the confusion on both Ayame and Mina's face.

"You know that kid looked like your otouto Nawaki-kun."

Mina rounded her head to her with an even more confused face. "He's my nii-san. Naruto comes here, doesn't he?"

Ayame looked very confused. She's seen all of Kushina's kids. She didn't know that she had an older son.

"He's never come here."

* * *

Kumiko's

The three academy students were entering the restaurant when a brown-haired force came charging at Naruto. He was tackled on the ground by a curvaceous woman with a red apron and curly brown hair falling gently down her lower back. She was wearing an all-black uniform consisting of shinobi sandals, a short-sleeved shirt, and leggings. Her shirt had a v-neck that showed a round pair of c-cup breasts. The apron was helping a little to cover it up.

Tayaka was slightly blushing while Shizuka was envious of woman's curves. The woman was hugging the life out of Naruto while he suffocated in her cleavage. Naruto was desperately trying to shove her off.

"Naruto-kun! It's been five days since you came for a visit. I was worried you found a new place to eat. Kaa-san and I were starting to miss you."

She kept rambling to Naruto until Shizuka started to get annoyed.

"Umm, excuse me, but I think you're suffocating a client."

The women looked down to see Naruto was turning blue in the face. When she let him go, he started to refill his lungs. When he finished, he looked at the woman.

"Momoko-san, can you please stop suffocating me every time I come here. I came here to eat with some new friends from the academy."

Momoko turned her head to see the two girls who were beside Naruto. She smiled at the fact Naruto was starting to make friends. She nodded her head and led them to an empty booth near the front counter.

The restaurant was small.

There was only enough room for booths on the side of the wall. In the middle, there are four tables with two chairs each. It wasn't cramped, but in general, it was small.

Before Naruto came here, they were low on customers, which meant little money wasn't coming into the restaurant. When Naruto started coming here, they were shocked that he ate so much. He was the reason more people started coming here. Kumiko's has become a place with the best fish and meat in the village. Momoko's kaa-san was sure that within five years, they would have enough money to fix the building and make this a fancy restaurant and bar for meat and sushi lovers.

The three kids were seated and started to look at the menu. Once they all ordered, the girls couldn't help their dumbfounded faces at how much Naruto ate. They wondered how he could eat that much and not get some fat on his body.

'If they only knew the training you received by Anko and me. They would completely understand why you eat so much, especially since you love meat too damn much.'

'Speak for yourself, Zoro. You want me to be chunin already so you can feel the saki down your throat.'

They ended up talking the whole night. Eventually, Tayaka had to leave for the night. She stated that she needed to see Shisui for her new training schedule. An hour after that, Shizuka started to depart for home. Naruto decided to walk her there.

When they finally arrived, Naruto told her goodnight. She smiled and told him to stay safe.

When she walked in, she couldn't help but shiver when Tokiwa stood there with a shit-eating grin on her face. Oh, how much teasing will she receive for tonight?

* * *

AN: Thank you for being patient with me and thank you to the viewer who keeps sending me messages in my PM. I had the flu and so I apologize for the slow updates.


	6. Chapter 6

I'm feeling better and ready to post twice a week.

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 6: The Start of the Legends

**Two Years Later**

Things couldn't have been better for Naruto. He had two best friends he trusted more than anything in the world and his training was being increased twice as much than before. Zoro had considered that it might be time to put down the bokkens he was training with and finally pick up a sword.

Naruto has been making leaps with both Anko and Zoro.

Anko was considering teaching some top torture and interrogation techniques to Naruto for future encounters with enemies. She had told Naruto that if she had the snake summon contract, she would have made Naruto sign it in a heartbeat. Naruto no longer paid Anko like he did in the past. She refused the boxes of dango and told him she'll cut his private out if he tries again. That shocked Naruto, considering that it was her favorite food he was giving her, but got over it.

Zoro was impressed with how Naruto was progressing in his training with both him and Anko. He believes that Naruto will be one of the great swordsman of this era. He would ever admit it, but he started to see Naruto as a brother like Luffy did with Sabo. Zoro was showing Naruto things that only true sword masters should know.

Zoro has asked Naruto a year ago what his specialty in the ninja arts would be when he became a ninja. Naruto hadn't thought about it. He knew that there were people in the village with some kind of specialties. A good example was Minato and Kurenai.

Everyone in the village knew that the Hokage's specialty was seals. His most known jutsu was the _**Hiraishin no Jutsu **_(Flying Thunder God Technique) which was feared all around the elemental nations. He made that jutsu using special seals that not even Jiraiya could figure out. Minato,Kushina, and Jiraiya were the only ones who are specialists in that field.

Kurenai was known for two things in this village. She was known as 'The Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha' and 'The Ice Queen'. The Ice Queen title was earned for a reason Naruto has yet to figure out, but he knows why she's called her other title. Kurenai was a natural when it came to the art. It's been said that she studied most of all the genjutsu scrolls in Konoha at an early age. She is very skilled and dangerous when it came to the art. Naruto didn't doubt that Kurenai probably had an arsenal of her own genjutsu that she created herself over the years. In truth, he held a bit of respect for the woman.

When the subject came up from Zoro, Naruto thought about all the specialties there are in the shinobi field. There was Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Fūinjustsu, Kenjutsu, and Medical Ninjutsu. Then he thought about Kenjutsu. He couldn't hide his thoughts from Zoro, so he told him he might do Kenjutsu. It was what he was working on for years. Hell, when Zoro told him to go find a sword of any kind in a store, he couldn't help but be drawn to the many on display in the racks. Zoro had to hand it to this era, they could make good swords. Though none were as good as the ones he had in the cave. The sword he was trapped in was no exception, it was a great sword.

Naruto hasn't realized how much love he processes for the way of the blade. Zoro, on the other hand can see it plain as day. Naruto craves swords.

Speaking of Naruto, he was sleeping through one of Iruka-sensei's lectures. The girls next to him acted like nothing was wrong in the slightest.

Iruka was giving a lecture of Madara Uchiha when he caught Naruto and Shikamaru sleeping. He threw two erasers at their heads. Shikamaru was hit with the eraser while Naruto caught it with one hand.

"Since you two were sleeping during the lesson, how about you tell me what was the lesson I was talking about."

The class snickered at this. They weren't doing this because they thought the boys were in trouble but, Iruka has never been able to humiliate Naruto and Shikamaru for sleeping during class. They were known as the lucky boys. They could get away from humiliation anytime. They just had to answer random questions right.

"You were talking about the fight between Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara." They both answered simultaneously.

One thing that did creep the class out was when they answered the same time, they sounded like robots. Iruka scowled and Nawaki frowned. Nawaki because his lazy brother got away with another question and Iruka because he wasn't able to humiliate the sleeping boys. Continuing the lesson, Iruka smirked when Tayaka and Ino hit the boys behind the head for sleeping during the lesson.

Naruto glared at Tayaka, but didn't say a word. He knew Tayaka was looking at him and threw her narrowed eyes. He was always curious about that habit. According to Shisui, he knew why and that she would only reveal them when it felt right. She's told both Shizuka and himself that she would reveal her eyes to them when the time came. It weirded him out when she spoke like she was a wise person with experience. Zoro claims that the way she usually acts reminded him of a woman named Nami who he always argued with in his era.

Usually, Tayaka would be hearing the lecture with her face lying against the palm of her hands, but today she acted different. She kept on looking anywhere that wasn't the lesson. Her hands kept fidgeting and her foot was lightly tapping the floor.

Two weeks ago she stated that something weird was happening with the Uchiha clan and Itachi was acting strangely.

She wanted to spend tonight at Kumiko's to clear her head. Then she wanted to head to the Naka river where she claims to usually go to relieve her stress. Being good friends, Shizuka and Naruto agreed to accompany her.

* * *

**Kumiko's**

They sat at their usual table after Momoko suffocated Naruto. They ordered a buffet of food. Fish, meat, vegetables, rice, and water. Naruto planned for them to get bloated, much to the girls' dismay.

In the middle of their meal, Tayaka put her chopsticks down. Shizuka, who was sitting next to her, decided to talk with her.

"What's bothering you now Tayaka-chan?"

"I can't shake off the feeling. Things are going to change and it's going to cause a chain reaction. I know I shouldn't be thinking this way, but I can't help it. Something is pulling me towards the river like I need to be there. Ughh!"

Naruto frowned at this. Zoro was telling him these aren't good signs for a person to have and to listen to everything she says.

"You said that you wanted to go to the Naka River tonight. I think we should start heading there before dawn starts. For now relax and eat. I trust you and if going there will help you then we'll go together."said Naruto while getting another serving of rice.

Shizuka nodded at Tayaka. After they started the academy together, she saw Tayaka as family. She didn't know exactly how she saw Naruto yet, but she knew he was very important to her. It was with these thoughts that she added another goal for herself.

Tayaka smiled at them. Besides Shisui, they were her family that she would do anything for no matter the consequences. Though she did roll her eyes at the obvious crush Shizuka had on the clueless blond.

They continue eating until they were heading their way to the Naka river.

* * *

**The Naka River**

They got their just an hour before dawn. They were currently in the trees observing the area for anything out of the ordinary. Naruto was being a lookout while Shizuka and Tayaka tried to get some sleep. Zoro didn't like how things were going for Tayaka. If she was having those types of feelings, it's better to be safe than sorry. Especially if those feelings are not leaving ones body.

Naruto didn't like the feeling Tayaka was describing.

Once they arrived at the river, Naruto started to get those feelings. He didn't like them one bit. It felt like the shinigami was in the area. He also felt as if their presence here was important. Zoro said it meant that they either needed to be here or that they were changing an outcome. He didn't know how Zoro knew these things. When he thought that death was in the area, Zoro wanted them to run towards the direction of the trees and not come out until the feeling left. When Naruto felt the other emotions, Zoro told him to stay and tell the girls to not leave no matter the circumstances.

They only have been there for a few minutes and Tayaka started to toss and turn in her sleep. She overate at the restaurant so she decided to get some sleep.

Suddenly, Tayaka gasped and quickly sat straight. Shizuka was startled awake by her sudden reaction. Tayaka quickly turned to the clearing on the cliff, watching it like a hawk. Her friends soon followed. Two minutes later, two figure appears at the edge of the cliff.

'_What's Itachi and Shisui doing here?'_questioned Naruto.

He looked at the entire scene. Shisui looked like he just got out of one of the biggest shinobi wars in history. His right eye was bleeding. The whole body was covered in blood and bruises. It wouldn't be a surprise if he had broken a few bones. What really caught his attention was that one of his fingers were missing. They saw Shisui handing something to Itachi. Naruto realized that Shisui's right eye wasn't bleeding, but missing. Suddenly, Itachi left without a trace.

That's when Tayaka came out of the tree and ran to her nii-san. Naruto and Shizuka were not that far behind.

"Shisui!"

Shisui turned to find the last person he wanted to see before proceeding with his final action.

"I guess I should've expected you to know something was wrong Tayaka. I never expected you to actually track me down here."

The three academy students look confused at Shisui.

Shisui laughed internally. How he wished to be their sensei when they graduated. Things didn't go completely as he planned, but at least he didn't have to worry about it anymore. In the end, he only completed half of what he needed to do.'_I hope Itachi does what's right.'_

The group watched Shisui do quick hand signs.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu! **(Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu)"

A poof of smoke appeared on the ground. It revealed a raven with a scroll on its feet.

"**So, it's time Shisui?"**

Shisui nodded.

"**I thought you said she'll contact me through the scroll?"**

Shisui shook his head.

"Everything didn't go the way I originally planned. My task was mostly a success, but the rest will be completed by someone else."

The raven nodded and looked directly at Tayaka.

"This is my personal summon from the raven contract."said Shisui while the raven walked up to Tayaka.

"**It's nice to meet you. Here is the scroll. You are incharge of this scroll until you've taken our test. On Shisui's request, you will be taking the test during the chunin exams. Don't summon us until then."**

The bird gave Tayaka the scroll and left in a poof of smoke.

"That's my raven summoning contract. I want you to sign it during the chunin exams."

Tayaka nodded quickly while holding the scroll tightly to her chest.

"When you were born, I loved you from the very moment I laid eyes on you. I wanted to protect you and be there for you every step of the way, but I couldn't do that and for what it's worth I'm sorry."

Tayaka was shaking with tears in her eyes.

Shisui looked Naruto in the eyes.

"Please look after her. You will all grow strong and become a dangerous threat to your future enemies. I want you to please protect her with everything you have. In fact, I want you all to protect each other. Please promise me that you'll try."

They all nodded our heads. They were each other's best friends. Nothing was going to hurt them.

"Go to the cave in the Naka River. I left something there for each of you. Originally, Tayaka was supposed to try to track me and find what's in there, but I guess you don't need to do that."

Shisui hugged Tayaka and then said something that shocked her.

"If you don't forgive me that's okay. I wouldn't forgive myself either. Just know that I love you and will always love you no matter what you decide to do with your life." he said softly while kissing her forehead.

He let go and walked to the edge of the cliff. Tayaka was crying and looking at Shisui.

"I killed Danzo and his closest ROOT operatives. I'm actually bleeding from my ribs as we speak because he fought me for my eye. He ended up taking it, but I killed him. You are now free from him. Hopefully you are free from the clan soon. Enjoy your time with your new family and try to live life happily. I believe in you Tayaka and as your brother and best friend, I wish you the best in everything."

Then he fell down the cliff.

"SHISUI-NII!"

Tayaka ran towards the edge and reached her arms down trying to catch him. Shizuka and Naruto ran and held her from falling in with her brother. Tayaka wailed as her brother died. Her brother committed suicide right in front of her. She didn't understand why he did it. Shisui wouldn't die unless it was necessary. He should have gone to the hospital and they could have healed him.

She was sobbing as Shizuka and Naruto held her. It felt like they've been there for hours. Eventually, Tayaka fell asleep.

"Should we take her home?"

Naruto shook his head.

He looked towards the direction of the cave.

"Let's go to the cave. I know she'd want to see what Shisui left behind."

Shizuka shook her head. He had a point. What's the reason for bringing her home if she'd leave for the cave when she woke up. She couldn't help but think about how stubborn Tayaka could be when she had her mind set.

Naruto carried Tayaka in his arms while Shizuka followed him to the cave.

* * *

**Three Hours Later**

Tayaka woke in a cold sweat breathing heavily.

She found herself laying on a soft pillow. It was radiating so much warmth that she couldn't help but snuggle into it.

"Can you please stop Tayaka-chan."

Her eyes widened for second as she slowly looked up to see she had been snuggling on one of Shizuka's breasts.

Tayaka stood quickly and rambled apologizes to Shizuka.

Shizuka stood on her elbows.

"It's fine Tayaka. I know you didn't mean anything by it.", stated Shizuka.

Tayaka nodded and decided to look around her surroundings. They appeared to be in some cave with the moon being their only light. She had to admit that the moon is a lovely sight. It was so close that she swore that she could reach it.

"Shisui."

Everything suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks.

Her oniisan was dead and she watched him die. She never thought the day would come when her family would die. Their mother was nowhere to be found and presumed dead and their father was a bedridden man that was ashamed to be related to her. She had no living blood relatives left to care for in the Uchiha. The only person she likes is Mikoto. The rest of the Uchiha never liked her and referred to her as the abomination of the clan and the civilian. She knew that her otousan would only keep her around for financial benefits, but the man would verbally abuse her after he learns about Shisui's death.

She imagined all of the bullshit the Uchiha's were gonna put her through now that Shisui is dead.

She wouldn't put up with it.

"So, are you going to open up the scroll that Shisui left behind or are you going to stand there like a dumb statue all day?"

Tayaka was caught off guard. She didn't even notice Naruto was missing from the group.

"I found a scroll hanging from the top of the cave, but I wasn't able to access it. I think that only you can get them Tayaka."

Tayaka nodded and followed both Shizuka and Naruto to where the scrolls where located.

The scroll was hanging on the roof of the caved with what appeared to be string. Naruto tried to grab it, but ended up falling from the ground and holding his arm.

"I've been trying to get the scrolls down but every time I tried, I'd have a sharp feeling in my arm."

Tayaka smirked at that.

"This is a Uchiha scroll that he created. It took time, but he finally got one to work. It's just like your average scroll, but it's more special."

When Tayaka reached for the scroll, she didn't feel any sharp pain. She grabbed the and wiped blood on a seal. The seal opened and revealed three scrolls with their names written on them.

"Unlike regular scrolls, this scroll activates a KI (Killer Intent) on a person's arm if the scroll was not meant for them. If some ignores the pain and tries to open the scroll the KI would be so potent that the person would die. I still don't know how Shisui was able to do this."

Naruto and Shizuka looked at Tayaka with amazement. KI can only be used by a living being. How did Shisui apply KI in the scroll and how could it kill others?

Tayaka picked up the scrolls that fell. She looked at each one and saw their names written one each scroll.

She handed the Naruto and Shizuka their scrolls.

Before she could open her scroll, Naruto stopped her.

"I think I know a better place where we can open the scrolls."

* * *

**The Cave**

Shizuka and Tayaka followed Naruto all the way to training ground 44. At first, they were curious to why Naruto wanted to come here. The training ground was forbidden to many people and not many knew of its existence.

So imagine their surprise when Naruto found a entrance to the forest. They were even more surprised when Naruto wanted them to enter a cave.

"Trust me."

That's all that he said when he entered the cave.

When they reached the other side, they couldn't believe what they saw.

"What is this place?"

Naruto smirked and turned to them.

"You guys are my only family and I feel like its time you got to know more about me."

Tayaka stepped forward.

"I do too."

At that Naruto and Shizuka turned to her with confused looked on their faces.

"When Shisui died in front of my eyes, I reflected a lot on my past and the people I surround myself with. All my life, I learned to only trust Shisui and that as long as he's in my life, I would be happy. Now that my nii-san is dead, I though of only the negatives and the darkness that would follow me till death. Then, when Naruto took me out of my thoughts in the Naka River's cave, I realized that I still have people I want to fight for and people I want to protect with everything inside me. My precious people are both of you. Shisui knew that you are my family and I promise on his grave that I will make him proud and that I will stay by my family!"

Shizuka and Naruto were at a lost for words. They knew Tayaka had her moments, but never like this. The way she spoke was filled with love and determination. She usually acted in a flamboyant manner, but here she was vowing to be there for her family and promising to make Shisui proud.

Shizuka couldn't help but hug the girl.

"I guess its time for me to open up with you both."

Naruto nodded and pointed to the clearing ahead of them.

"I think we can discuss this more over here."

"I'll lead the way."

Shizuka and Tayaka were startled at the other voice. They turned around to see a man wearing a bandana similar to the one Naruto owns.

The man walked with Naruto to the clearing leaving behind the curious and girls.

Tayaka began to follow the Naruto while Shizuka trailed behind her. She couldn't help but think one thing.

_'I have a feeling we are going to be closer than ever after this talk.'_

* * *

AN: That concludes the chapter. What was in the scrolls Shisui left them? Why is Tayaka disliked by her own clan? This and more on the next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

Im back.

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda

* * *

Chapter 7: Situations, Realizations, Underestimation

**Hokage Office**

Minato was working on some last minute paperwork before the new pile could arrive today. He couldn't help but sigh. These past two years have been a disaster. The death of the Uchiha clan and the destruction of ROOT.

Minato had been told that the ROOT headquarters had been destroyed in some kind of attack. He found many bodies of ROOT agents that appeared to have been dead before the destruction of the building.

What he couldn't believe was that Danzo had died.

Nobody knows how the man had truly passed, but that didn't matter until they found sharingans located on his body. Danzo was very powerful indeed.

Minato had tired looking for more information about what ROOT and their missions. He found papers that dealt with Danzo planning to kill Minato, Itachi, and Shisui. He had to make Danzo a possible suspect for the disappearance of Uchiha Shisui.

He couldn't find any traces to the death of Uchiha Shisui. They couldn't even find his body. They investigation had gone on for months. In the end, they decided to label him dead.

Many files of Danzo and ROOT had been left behind. Only a few of those file have been saved from the explosion that destroyed the base.

Minato had found evidence of Danzo working for people like Orochimaru and a mercenary group known as the Akatsuki.

Now that Danzo is dead, Minato has more ANBU who are loyal to him and the village.

There was also a file that caught his interest. A file on Uchiha Tayaka.

Danzo has been spying on the girl since she was a toddler.

It says that she was only of interest because of her mother. Minato didn't really know the girl's mother and had searched for any information of her from the files in his office. Nothing appeared on her files. The more Minato dug, the more confuse he became. Tayaka was almost like a ROOT agent working for Danzo. Tayaka had no real information except that she is the sister of Shisui. He couldn't even find any recods of her brith. He went to her father to find more information, but the father stated that he married her mother out of love and that when she left him, he found out Tayaka was not his biological daughter. They haven't spoken with each other since the accident. He had told Minato that the mother's name is Tanaka. She was an outsider came to Konoha and became a villager. She married into the Uchiha and had disappeared after Tayaka was born.

Eventually, there was a dead end and he decided to close the case.

Minato turned in his chair to view the village. He couldn't help but feel he's forgotten something. Then it hit him.

_'The Genin Exam.'_

**The Academy**

The last two years have been really crazy for the group of three. The meeting with Naruto's sensei, Tayaka's eye, and Shizuka's past were finally revealed.

Shizuka being the ex-princess of Nadeshiko Village came up during the beginning of their training together. Apparently, her older sister was beaten in battle by a corrupted man. She was forced to marry him and now he controls the village. Shizuka's sister was heartbroken before the battle, which caused him to have an easy victory. Now Nadeshiko is revolting against him. Shizuka left the village with her protector Tokiwa because she didn't agree to any of the villages new customs set by the currupted man. Tokiwa didn't either and was the one who made the decision to leave the village for a better life.

They still had their separate training. Naruto still trained with Anko in private, Shizuka trained with Tokiwa, and Tayaka trained with all the scroll that Shisui left behind for her. Naruto actually had been thinking of introducing Shizuka to Anko because of her interest in poison. He just hoped that she didn't pick up any of her habits.

The scrolls Shusui gave them were filled with helpful information.

In Shizuka's scroll, she receive variations of jutsu involving suiton and futon. She also received a handbook with strategic and experimental ways to create traps. The last thing she received was a set of sais. She had admired the craftsmanship of it. The sais were really sharp and she ended up cutting herself. Zoro had told her to use those blades. He was really impressed with the sais. He was more skilled with a katana, but he decided to train her in using them. She decided to accept Zoro's offer and trained with him.

Naruto was gifted with futon, suiton, and katon jutsu. Two of his jutsus were some that Shisui was working on before his suicide. They both were katon jutsus that were supposed to be C-ranks, but Naruto thinks that he could improve the jutsu and make it B-rank. The last thing he received was his old bingo book.

Tayaka was given the most out of everyone for obvious reasons. She had been given doton, futon, and suiton jutsus. She also received Shisui's famous jutsus. The final thing she received from the scroll was Shisui's tanto.

The group mosly received jutsu and old possessions.

They were all currently in class waiting for their sensei to arrive. Naruto had let Shizuka and Tayaka into his deception plan for the last two years at the academy. All three of them retained even scores. They also planned on graduating with the same results.

Their years in the Academy were coming to an end. They would be taking their test today to become Genin. The word made them cringe. Tayaka decided to spy on a genin team named Team Gai and saw the type of 'missions' they would be doing until they were Chunin. Despite all the missions, they felt bad for the cat known as Tora. They could all see the pain in his eyes. They still wondered where he received so much pain.

Throughout their years together, the group had never interacted with anyone else. Boys would come up to Shizuka and Tayaka for dates. Shizuka had turned down many boys that ogled at her, including Kiba. Tayaka was a completely different story.

Tayaka still kept her eyes narrowed. She didn't want to take any chances with her eye in public. Apparently, Sasuke and her have been becoming very popular in the village. A week after Shisui's death, Itachi had murdered the Uchiha clan. This left Tayaka and Sasuke as prime prey for fans who wanted to help repopulate the Uchiha clan. Another thing that was a problem was the CRA that applied to both of them. Sasuke was outraged that the council wanted the weakest and most pitiful Uchiha to help repopulate his clan. Tayaka had also told Minato that she couldn't reproduce due to a hateful clan member that punctured her womb. She took the risk of showing him her eyes and stated that she was more of a civilian than an Uchiha. This gave Sasuke the advantage to ban her from the clan.

Today, many boys still ask her out in hopes it was a rumor, but Tayaka stated that it was true. When they discovered her eyes didn't have the sharingan, they dismissed it. Sasuke didn't have the eyes either. That comment made Sasuke angry. He was the powerful Uchiha and when he activated his eyes, he'd avenge his clan. He met with the Hokage and banned Tayaka from the clan. Little did he know, that was her plan from the beginning. She was now free from her enemies. Sasuke was still a problem, but he couldn't do anything anymore. The emo couldn't get her back into the clan and the council didn't have the power to control a clanless civilian. Tayaka was finally free.

Shizuka and Tayaka now live in the same house. When they become ninja, they all plan on living in an apartment together. Shizuka and Tayaka couldn't take living in the same house as Tokiwa and her romantic life style of what she called 'going out with a bang'. Tokiwa had been drinking, gambling, and sleeping with both genders under her roof. Tayaka was more than okay with her sleeping with people, but the gambling was very annoying. Shizuka and Naruto found out that Tayaka was also hiding the fact that she had the same preferences as Tokiwa when it came to dating. Saldy, Naruto didn't fully comprehend what it means to date both genders. Apparently, years of neglect meant not getting the talk. Add his antisocial personality and you have an innocent thirteen year old kid without any knowledge of sex and more knowledge on killing.

Naruto wasn't as popular as his siblings. Everyone wanted to be with Mito. She was the definition of beauty to many boys. Kiba was also trying to impress her with his charms, but she only wanted Sasuke. In general, her and Sakura were fighting over his love. Mina was a mystery. She hasn't expressed any interest in anyone, but the boys liked her smarts. Nawaki was trouble. It was obvious he likes Hinata, but Ino wanted Nawaki all to herself. He was popular with many girls. They claim him to have a charm. Naruto just thought that fangirls just like strong heirs for their money and fame. Shizuka and Tayaka hate fangirls with a passion. With that said they hated Sakura and Ino.

Fellow students started to fill the classroom. Ino was talking to a sweaty Nawaki, Sakura was fighting with Mito, Sasuke was brooding away at the window from the bottom row, and Hinata was stealing glances at Nawaki. The rest of their classmates have yet to arrive.

Usually, Mina would be here on time. He had no idea why she was late. Naruto didn't want to admit it, but he still held a very tiny spot for Mina. Naruto was still more than determined to ignore her existence even if he still had a small spot for her.

The door of the classroom suddenly slid open revealing Shikamaru and Chōji. A few seconds later, Sai and Iruka were revealed. Mina was still nowhere to be seen.

The class was in an uproar. People were being loud and social, something Naruto tries to refrain from. Iruka needed to used his big head no instantly quiet down. The door slid open again revealing Mina and Shino.

"Gomen, I was late because I had to take Shino-san to the infirmary."she stayed bowing much to Mito's annoyance.

"Very well. You can come in."

Shino and Mina took their seats.

"Now as you know, the genin exam is today. Before I start I just want to wish you all good luck."stated Iruka." The first part will be a written exam. You must score at least a 60 on the written test. Then you will be doing an accuracy test with Shuriken and Kunai. Finally, you will be performing three jutsus. These three jutsus are the **Henge no Jutsu** **(Transformation Jutsu)**, **Kawarimi no Jutsu** **(Body Replacement Jutsu)**, and **Bunshin no jutsu** **(Clone Jutsu)**."

"Now, Mizuki will hand out the tests. You have an hour to complete it and remember no cheating. If someone is caught cheating, they will be prohibited from completely the exam until next year."

When Mizuki finish distributing the tests, Iruka waited two more minutes until starting the test.

"Begin!"

Immediately, everyone turned over their tests. Naruto quickly answered the questions. This was trivial to him compared to what he studies now. Naruto finished the exam with ease. He decided to sit back and think about where he's going to pick his new hitai-ate.

Iruka noticed that the first ones to finish the exam were Sakura, Naruto, Tayaka, and Shizuka. He knew Sakura was indeed booksmart, but he was always questioning Naruto and his friends. Naruto gave off a lazy and uncaring persona that Iruka believed in for the first two years at the academy, but then he took a closer look at Naruto's records. Naruto has been keeping his scores the exact same and barley the minimum for the past four years.

At first Iruka thought it was because of his laziness and uncaring attitude, but then he remembered the signs that Naruto showed through the school year. He was able to catch his erasers in his sleep and he answered questions that he usually got wrong in his exams correct when confronted about his sleeping sessions during lectures. Finally, it was the taijutsu sparring. He thought that Naruto was too lazy to take sparing seriously. He used the academy style that was taught to every student in their first year of attending the academy. To test his theory, he paired him up with Sasuke for a spar. When sparing with Sasuke, Naruto would slightly change his style as if testing and correcting his own secret style. Two years into the academy, the same thing was happening with Shizuka and Tayaka. They were hiding their potential throughout their academy years. Why would they hide their potential? Why were Shizuka and Tayaka following his example? It didn't make sense.

He needed to tell the Hokage during the team assignment meeting with the other Jonin.

Time was up. Mizuki collected all the tests from the students. Next was the accuracy test.

Iruka paid close attention to Naruto and his friends. He notice the movement of their wrists. They purposely all made seven. Barley the minimum to pass. Watching Shizuka, she showed the ability to throw all ten but made seven instead. Iruka believed her to have killer accuracy.

Next was the jutsu exam. If the jutsu isn't performed correctly, the student won't graduate the academy. The students were called by name to perform all jutsus. Shizuka hinged into Minato, then kawarimied with Mizuki, finally finishing with three bunshin.

The same thing happened with Tayaka and Naruto.

Naruto and Shizuka had decided to pocket their hitai-ate while Shizuka wore the headband over her eyes..

Iruka and Mizuki walked back into the classroom where many people were waiting for them. For some odd reason, Nawaki was frowning and Sasuke was smirking.

Iruka walked back into the classroom and looked at everyone present. None had failed this year.

"It's with great honor that I say the entire class passed the exam!"

Sasuke and Nawaki looked shocked and turned their heads back to Naruto and Tayaka. They were facing the front looking directly at Iruka.

'_Those losers actually passes?'_

'_It doesn't matter. They're still beneath an Uchiha elite.'_

Iruka started talking about what it means to be a ninja of the leaf and that the road only gets harder from here.

'_Not when you're a genin.'thought Tayaka in sadden ._

"I'm not your sensei anymore. We are fellow ninja. In three days, please come back to the classroom early in the morning for team assignment."

With that everyone was dismissed. Naruto, Tayaka, and Shizuka remain in their seats for a moment.

"I think I'm gonna go buy a new wardrobe now that I'm a genin. I think it's time to leave behind the baggy long sleeve."

Tayaka turned to Naruto with a raised eyebrow. She was actually thinking the same thing."Mind if we join. I want something without the Uchiha crest on the back."

"I'll go too, but I'll need some new supplies. My weapons need to be poison ready."

Naruto gave her a look. Shizuka was the smartest one out of everyone in the academy. She was so smart that she started to create jutsus out of poison. He still didn't know how she managed to do that. He thought she started to experiment on herself like Orochimaru, but she'd just been experimenting with animals. She also started to make medical jutsu like Tsunade. Shizuka isn't that interested in the medical field like Tsunade, but she did need to learn how to cure poisons and heal wounds. So far, it's been trial and errors. She only been able to create three poison jutsu that would make the snake Sannin envious. She did say she would eventually need to experiment on herself or enemies, but she assured them that they would never be used on allies.

Despite her fascination for dark thing like poison, Shizuka was the joyous and formal person they know. The difference between Orochimaru and Shizuka is their nature. Orochimaru is a madman obsessed with DNA experimentations, power, and destruction. Shizuka was obsessed with poison, discovery and protecting the ones she loves to death.

She also hates Orochimaru for giving the future poison user a soon to be bad reputation.

Zoro was able to fix her problem last week. His ghost form could turn human for seven hours a day. Shizuka and Zoro made a deal that if she can use and study poisons in his human form, she'd buy the ghost his favorite bottles saki in the future as soon as she was chunin. Zoro full heartedly accepted it. They began painful experiments that made Tayaka's skin crawl. Zoro was a huge help in developing poisons and cures. He was also the breakthrough she needed to be able to fully use poison based jutsu with her suiton and fuuton afanities.

She just needed to attain a bigger list of suiton and fuuton jutsus.

Naruto decided to help her with that problem in exchange for her to give him some fuuton jutsu to improve his fuuton arsenal.

"You obsess over poison and muffins like Tayaka obsessed over shrimp and onigiri."

Tayaka fell out her seat laughing at the red faced Shizuka. She punched Naruto on the shoulder and stood up. They all walk out of the classroom and joined Shizuka to show Tokiwa their headbands.

* * *

**Village Streets**

Naruto just came out the Konoha Administration Building. He just finished signing the documents to change his name. His best friends were waiting for him on a bench.

They looked up to see Naruto grinning from ear to ear.

"Long live Roronoa Naruto!"

His friends hugged him and congratulated him on finally splitting his ties with his clan. Naruto is considered an adult, which meant he could legally change his name.

"Now, let's go celebrate at Tokiwa's apartment."

The girls followed Naruto down the streets of the village. They had went shopping all day for new clothes and equipment. After that, they dropped everything in Tokiwa's apartment and headed to the Administrations building. The night was almost upon them. Nobody made a sound until they heard running. Naruto stopped in his tracks and hid behind a large tree. The girls followed his lead. Thirty seconds later, Mizuki appeared with a large scroll tied on his back.

"Dumb leaf-nin. Soon I'll be resting and living the good life once I deliver this to Orochimaru-sama."

He sped into the forest to the forest, unaware of the three individuals.

Naruto smirked at the girls.

"Who wants to capture a traitor."

The girls nodded smiling.

They headed into the forest in full speed. Shizuka was flanking Naruto on the left and Tayaka on the right. Naruto was getting his bokken sword ready for Mizuki.

Mizuki stopped near a shack in the forest. The three stayed in the trees ready for any Mizuki might throw at them.

"You three are a pain. I know you gakis are in the trees. You think you can handle a chunin like myself? You may be out of the academy, but you never faced a real opponent. Now, I can't leave any witnesses live. I'm gonna have to kill you three."

He pulled out a fūma shuriken. He spinned it at a fast rate. He quickly threw it at Shizuka then tried to attack Naruto with a kunai in a fast pace. Shizuka quickly dodged the projectile and threw a kunai at the shuriken to try and stop it from going further. Naruto slid to the left at the very last moment and hit Mizuki on the back with a chakra infused hit. Tayaka quickly moved to the right and did hand signs then yelled **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!** (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu).

'_These little shits are too much for me alone. How does the Uchiha bitch know that jutsu!'_

He knew he wouldn't be able to dodge it.

The jutsu started to disappear and Mizuki thought he was in the clear until he felt something hard hit the back of his head. His world then turned to darkness.

Naruto stood behind him and tied his bokken to his side. Tayaka and Shizuka tied him to a tree. He wouldn't be able to get out anytime soon. He picked up the scroll from the ground.

Suddenly an ANBU appeared.

"You three did an excellent job at apprehend the traitor. I can tell you've been practicing together."

The three genin didn't let their guard down. They didn't know if the ANBU could be trusted. The ANBU chuckle a bit a this. '_What an interesting team.'_

"It's okay, I'm an ally. If you want, you can accompany me to turn this traitor in to Ibiki. The scroll will be returned to the Hokage."

Naruto let his guard down a bit.

"My friends and I will accompany you to Morino-san and the Hokage tower. Once you have entered the tower, we will leave."

The ANBU nodded. The truth is they were required to come and report what they did to Mizuki to retrieve the scroll, but they have done enough for today. The ANBU will let it slide this time.

'_I can't believe a couple of genin were able to defeat a chunin without getting tired. The way they executed everything was perfect. If they burned Mizuki alive, they couldn't interrogate him just in case he was working for Orochimaru. They knew Mizuki would underestimate the and used it to their advantage.'_

The ANBU was glad to let things play out instead of stopping the children from chasing Mizuki.

They dropped Mizuki off to Ibiki and Anko. The women had a strange look in her eyes when she saw the genin. She looked proud of them, especially the blond. The ANBU will have to check in with her to find out.

When they were about the reach the Hokage tower, the three genin stopped. The ANBU looked back at them.

"We won't go any further. We will watch you walk in from here. If we go in the Hokage will wonder why some graduates are accompanied an ANBU with the scroll of dealings. The next time we see the Hokage, it will be for a team mission."

'_Hmm it seems that they just graduated from the academy. They don't know the protocols yet. I'm still intrigued by them.'_

The ANBU nodded and walked into the Hokage tower.

* * *

**The Hokage Tower**

**Two Days later**

Minato Namikaze was seated in his desk filling out paperwork. He now understood why Sarutobi hated it when he was Hokage.

Minato checked the time. The meeting would be starting soon. Today was the day he selects the jonin for then new genin teams. Minato smiled at the fact that his children were finally genin. For years, Minato and Kushina had been training those kids to be amazing shinobi. He wished he could spend more time with them, but he had to do paperwork. At least he could see them everyday. Plus, they had Tsunade and Jiraiya for company if Kushina is doing errands.

There was a knock on the door and Minato told his secretary she could come in. She left the files of students that will be placed in a squad for their genin career. The secretary then picked up the paperwork and left him to his duties.

Two minutes later the room started to fill with jonin ninja. Each one intent on getting a team. What shocked Minato was that his Ibiki and Anko were present at this meeting.

Yesterday, Minato was told a trusted and very skilled ANBU member was going to step down and take a jonin team. He wondered which ANBU operative would be taking a team and what team do they want.

Minato saw it was time to start the meeting.

"Hello everyone and welcome to the meeting. Today I will be taking requests on who wants a genin team. If you don't please feel free to leave the room. Remember, if there is still a team that needs a sensei, I will pick one of you as a sensei until they become chunin or go to the reserves.

Many of the jonin left the room only ten people remained.

"Now I will take requests of what members you want as a team."

A man with a bandana and sebon in his mouth stepped forward. "Hokage-sama, I don't want to waste your time by telling you what team I want. I just stayed because I accepted any team you wish to give me."

Minato nodded his head at this. He knew Genma wanted to be a jonin instructor now that he's a Tokubetsu Jonin. Minato knew how skilled Genma really was in the field. The man should already be a full fledge jonin.

The next person to step up was Sarutobi Asuma. He was a well built man with tanned skin and a beard. He always had a cigarette hanging from his mouth. "I'd like Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chōji. I'd like to create a new Ino-shika-cho team in Konoha."

Minato smiled at that. Asuma hadn't been the same since the passing of his father. The mention of this team brings some life back into his eyes. The team itself sounds great. That combo is well known in Konoha. Looking through the files Minato saw that they would be best with each other.

"I'll allow you to have the team."

Next Kushina stepped forward.

"You know who I want Minato and why I want them."

Minato sighed. His wife was right. Giving her the children was the best option.

"Granted. You'll have the kids as a team."

Next to step up was Yūhi Kurenai.

"Hokage-sama, I would like a team with Hyuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba. This team would be a tracking and locating team."

Minato was would be more than happy to give her that team. With the Byakugan, insects, and ninkin working together, they can be a formidable team.

The next to step up shocked everyone.

"Hokage-sama, with your permission I'd like to have Uchiha Tayaka, Shizuka, and Roronoa Naruto as my team. They would be a capture, infiltration, and attack team."

The room was silent. Minato looked at the former ANBU like they were crazy. Kushina was shock. Minato picked up Naruto's folder and looked at the information eyes widened the size of dinner plates.

"Roronoa?"

The next person to step up was Iruka. He looked at the Hokage with serious eyes.

"Hokage-sama, while we are on the topic of this team, I'd like to share what I've discovered."

Everyone's eyes were automatically on Iruka.

"Throughout his years in the academy, Naruto has kept his score on tests exactly the same. At first I thought he was lazy and uncaring in his studies, but two years into the academy I noticed that when I called on him to answer questions, he answered them correctly. These were questions he always answered incorrectly on tests. He also shown ..."

Iruka explained everything. He even brought papers and major scores Naruto and his friend gained throughout the academy. He also brought up theories and evidence.

To say everyone in the room was shocked was an understatement. Kushina, Kurenai, Genma, and Asuma looked like a fish out of water. Ibiki smirked, he was going to fight them to be their sensei. Anko was laughing out loud. The kid seemed to always surprise her every time. The ex-ANBU was silent, but her thoughts were going twenty miles per hour.

'_These three are more intriguing than I originally thought. To be able to hide your skills from instructors and have defeated a chunin without a sensei. The formation and planning was what I paid attention to that night with Mizuki. The group is more mysterious now. Why would they hide such potential ?'_

Minato looked at the three open files on his desk. Iruka was right. Their scores are almost identical. If the information he gave was true, why would they hide their potential. If anything, doing this was real potential. They deceived the instructors and student of the academy.

"Hokage-sama, with all do respect, I believe that I should be training those three. They would be a torture and interogastion team."

At that Anko stood up.

"I believe I should be the team leader of this group. I've been around Naruto since he was six. I already know that the Uchiha only trusts them. Green eyes is completely different, she only wants to protect them."

Minato raised a questioning eyebrow at Anko.

"Due tell, why were you around my son?"

"Because the kid was like me. I saw myself in his eyes. We know what a pain it is to be cast aside. For me, it was because of that snake-teme. I'm pretty sure you know why Naruto was casted aside."

Kushina had a bad feeling at that. Her baby felt cast aside? By who?

Minato didn't know how to follow that one up.

Going back to business, he read their profiles. It's obvious the team had potential. Why hide it? Minato felt he needed to know what was going on with this group of genin.

He assigned the team a sensei.

Kakashi then stepped forward.

"Hokage-sama, I believe you know I want Uchiha Sasuke in my team, but I also want Uchiha Tayaka and Sai."

Minato frowned at that. He knew what Kakashi was trying to accomplish with this.

"No Kakashi, you will not get Uchiha Tayaka. She is better off with Naruto and Shizuka. Instead, you will be handed Haruno Sakura."

Kakashi didn't say a word. He wanted to have Tayaka on his team to honor Obito. He guessed Sasuke would have to do. The council wanted him to train the last Uchiha and unlock his Sharingan. Plus, Tayaka was more of a civilian than an Uchiha anyways.

After assigning Genma a team, everyone was dismissed.

* * *

**Namikaze Compound **

Minato walked home to find his kids talking with Tsunade. She was telling them about her lover Dan and how he wanted to be Hokage. Nawaki always loved hearing Tsunade's stories. It was part of the reason why Nawaki wanted to be Hokage.

Kushina was right behind me with a frown on her face.

"Hello everyone!"

Everyone looked up to see Minato arrived home. Mito immediately jumped off the couch and into her father's arms. Nawaki laughed at the display. Mina just shook her head.

"Has anyone seen Naruto?"

The room was filled with silence. Kushina thought they'd answer her question. She noticed Nawaki scowl and Mina had a gloomy expression. Mito and Tsunade just looked confused.

"I think he's in his room." was Mito's response.

Minato and Kushina quickly went to Naruto's room with a curious Tsunade behind them. They paused when they realized they didn't know which one was Naruto's room. Mina came upstairs to help them find Naruto's room.

"It's the one that's four doors to the right. I only remembered because it was right next to mine."

Mina lead the way. She was the only one who knew that Naruto had been hurt by their actions.

When she opened the door, she held her tears in because she didn't want to cry in front of her parents. The adults came in the room and were torn by what they saw. The room was completely empty. The only thing that was there was a picture frame facing the desk. Kushina hesitantly grabbed the frame. Then she started to sob on the ground. Wanting to know what she was crying about Tsunade and Minato took the frame from Kushina.

The picture was their first family picture. The glass looked like it was hit with a fist.

Minato quickly rushed to open the closet doors to see no clothing in sight. This made Kushina cry even louder.

'_No, I didn't forget about my son. He didn't runaway. He'll be back. Maybe he's with his friends.'_

Namikaze Minato was losing it. He didn't want to come to grips with the fact Naruto might have left. He knew he had to confront Naruto. The problem was if he could.

Tsunade couldn't believe that she never really talked to Naruto. Going through her memory, she remembered interacting with him when he was five years old, but she didn't remember anything else. Out of all the kids, Tsunade remembered she had more in common with Naruto than Nawaki. Where Nawaki reminded her of her brother, Naruto reminded her of Dan. She felt guilty that she pushed aside Naruto.

'_What's he like now?'_

Kushina was a completely different story. She got off her knees and rushed down stairs.

"Kushina!"

Minato was hot on her trail.

Mito and Nawaki were shocked that their mother was crying. Nawaki ran to wipe the tears out of his mother's eyes. Kushina opened the door to the downstairs storage closet. When her opened it she dug for something. Everyone looked at her, wondering what she was looking for in there.

Kushina pulled out an album. Everyone knew that was one of the siblings albums. They sat on the couch. Then they read the Name on the album.

'_Why are we gonna look threw his album? 'thought_ Nawaki and Mito.

Kushina opened the album and saw the first picture was Naruto and Nawaki dressed in Christmas sweaters. Nawaki actually smiled at that. He remembered that his parents would gush over them dressed in the same clothes. The next picture was Naruto taking his first steps. The family was smiling at this completely forgetting about the problem at hand. They kept watching Naruto growing up in the Namikaze Compound. Nawaki couldn't help but feel like a bit of a douche for how he acted towards his brother. He always put down Naruto in the academy even though said person ignored his attempts. Then he felt guilty when a photo of them making a pact together came up.

Soon, the photos suddenly stopped. Kushina was confused she was sure their more photos. The last one was his fifth birthday party. Kushina started to panic.

"Bring me the kids other albums now Minato!"

Without any hesitation, Minato got the other three albums. She quickly opened Mina's album to find the fifth birthday party. She found the photo of all four of them together and then turned the page. She saw many pictures of Mina. She smiled at Mina launching a Shuriken in Minato's butt. Nawaki laugh hard and Minato just sweatdropped. Then came the six birthday party. Kushina frowned. Where Naruto?

She only searched for pictures that had the family celebrating birthdays. In all of them, there was no Naruto.

Everyone noticed the dilemma. Where's Naruto? There was no images of Naruto. Kushina tried to think of the times she cooked food for him and brought him new clothes. She could take it anymore.

"I failed as Naruto's kaa-san!"she wailed.

Kushina eventually cried herself asleep. Minato carried her to their room. Tsunade left to drink sake with Shizune.

The Mito started to remember that she hasn't even spent time with Naruto. When had they even bonded without him dragging him anywhere. Nawaki cried in his room about how bad of a brother he became to Naruto and how he basically broke their pact. Mina was in her blue covered bed thinking of ways to get Naruto to forgive her.

Today was an emotionally draining day for the Namikaze family.

* * *

AN: Chapters will sometimes be this long. It won't get longer than this.


	8. Chapter 8

I've been getting a lot of funny guesses in my PM.

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 8: Team Assignments

**The Academy **

Naruto and his friends finally arrived at the Academy. They had spent the three days moving into a new house Naruto brought the day after they graduated. When Shizuka and Tayaka found out Naruto brought a house, they immediately moved in and claimed their rooms. The girls still couldn't believe how loaded Naruto really was all this time.

They were currently walking the halls of the academy. Many people turned to look at them. They did change their appearance a bit. They walked down the hall towards the classroom.

When they entered everyone was there. They turned to see who enter and all their mouths dropped.

They just continued on to their seats and paid them no mind.

Tayaka now wore a grey tight short sleeve shirt with ninja black ninja pants. Her thigh had ninja wrapping and a ninja pouch. Her hair was in a high ponytail with her green hitai-ate covering her eyes.

Shizuka got the boys attention with her green jacket gone. She now wore a green shinobi top with an exposed midriff. Shinobi bandages were covering the exposed midriff and lower arms. Her shorts were now black spandex pants. They would give her more flexibility. Her shinobi sandals were green. She wore her two ninja pouches on the back of her grey waist belt. On the center of the belt was her hitai-ate. Her hair was still short in length to the shoulders.

Naruto was now wearing a black sleeveless shinobi v-neck shirt. He had an image of two swords crossed on his back in red. He wore green shinobi pants with two pockets on each side of his pants. The ends of his pants were tucked in his footwear. A green belt was on his waist which carried four swords and a bokken. He also replaced his sandals with black shinobi boots. Finally he wore a grey bandana on top of his head with his hitai-ate in the middle. He also wore grey shinobi wrapping on his left thigh with a ninja pouch attached.

'_The-eir ch-ch-chest are almost a-as big as m-mine.'_thought a sad Hinata.

'_Cha! How come they have breasts like that already. Next thing someone gonna tell me is Hinata's are even bigger.'_

Little does Sakura know, Hinata's are bigger.

'_Who knew Naruto was so muscular at this age! Compared to Nawaki, Naruto is hot!' _thought Ino.

'_How does he look so strong?'_ thought Mito.

Kiba was just ogling the girls with a minor nosebleed. Ino and a small amount of girls kept staring at Naruto.

Iruka walked into the classroom with papers in his hands. He looked around the classroom. He stopped when he saw the attire Naruto and his friend were wearing. '_Well they looked ready for anything, but I wish the girls covered up a bit.'_

Iruka started another speech about the will of fire and how he was proud of them.

"Now it's time to start the team assignment."

"Team 7 will be Sai, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Your jonin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

Sasuke held the same 'cool' face as always. Shakura was telling Mito that true love prevails and Sai had his usual fake smile.

"Team 8 will be Aburame Shino, Hyuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba. Your jonin sensei will be Yūhi Kurenai."

Nawaki and Hinata were sad they weren't put in the same team. Kiba was happy she had a cute girl in his team. Shino was just quiet.

"Team 9 is still active."

"Team 10 will be Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Chōji sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."

Shikamaru smirked at Ino who was disappointed in not being in a team with Naruto or Nawaki. Chōji just kept eating chips while glancing at his new teammates.

"Team 11 will be Roronoa Naruto, Uchiha Tayaka, and Shizuka. Your sensei will be Uzuki Yūgao."

The room was quiet. The Namikaze siblings were processing what they hear. Others around them were either shocked or curious. They looked at Naruto to see his eyes still on Iruka.

"Team 12 will be Uzumaki Namikaze Mito, Uzumaki Namikaze Mina, and Uzumaki Namikaze Nawaki. Your sensei will be Uzumaki Kushina."

Team 12 weren't surprised that their sensei was their mother. She was always overprotective with them. Especially because of the fur ball.

"Now wait here for your jonin senseis. Congratulations again for becoming ninja of the hidden leaf."

With that, Iruka left the room.

Two minutes later, the door opened to reveal a raven haired woman wearing bandages with flower patterns for a dress.

"Team 8 your with me."

'_So that's the ice queen herself.'_thought Naruto.

Quickly the team left, but not before Hinata wished Nawaki luck.

Next was a muscular jonin man with the standard Konoha uniform.

"Team 10 meet me at training ground 10."

With that, Ino-Shika-Chō team left right behind their sensei.

Only three teams are left. Team 12 was staring at team 11. Team 7 was still waiting on their sensei.

"Hey Naruto, what's up?"

Naruto just kept staring at Mito until she turned away.

She couldn't help the cold eyes that kept staring her way. They sent a bad feeling to her spine. She decided to keep her mouth shut until she could talk to him.

Suddenly, Naruto threw his hand up and caught a kunai. No one was able to see the flying projectile, so how can Naruto be able to see and catch it?

Naruto was able to sense something coming his way at a very fast pace. He knew it would raise suspicions, but he didn't care. What he did care about was that he'd never heard of Yūgao in Konoha. That being said, she must have been an ANBU. It could be the female ANBU from three days ago. Naruto was only sure it was an ex-ANBU member. He looked at the kunai and found a note attached to it. Untying the knot, he took it from the kunai. Naruto couldn't help a little smirk on his face.

"Our instructor wants us to meet on the roof five minutes ago. We better hurry and receive our punishment for being late."

Nodding their heads, the girls formed hand signs and used the **Shunshin no Jutsu **(Body Flicker Jutsu) to leave the room. Naruto turned to the remaining teams and said "You guys are gonna be waiting for a while. Kaka is usually two or three hours late for these types of things. Most likely Kushina-sama will find him and dragging him to meet here with you."

Then he Shunshin out the room.

* * *

**Academy Roof**

Naruto Shunshin on the roof of the academy. Using his bokken, he blocked a strike on the stomach.

He looked at his attacker.

The women had warm brown eyes and straight purple hair that fell to her waist. She wore red lipstick and the standard chunin vest. Underneath her vest, she wore the standard ANBU uniform and protector.

She backed away from him with a light smile.

"I'm very impressed with your reaction time. "

Naruto just kept a straight face. "We must have either made quite an impression on you that you wanted to be our jonin sensei or you were ordered to keep an eye on use by Hokage-sama."

Yūgao raised an eyebrow at him.

"I recognize your voice as the ANBU from the Mizuki incident. I just need to hear a voice once and I already know who it belongs to in a matter of seconds."

Yūgao didn't show it, but she was impressed. To have skills like this at an early age is something very surprising.

She walked back to leaning against the railing. The three students decided to sit in front of her crossed legged.

"Alright will start with introductions. We will be sharing our likes, dislikes, hobbies, and goals. For example, my name is Uzuki Yūgao. I like the moon, sushi, training, my friends, and my boyfriend Hayate. I dislike rapists, fan girls, and spoils brats. My hobbies are moon watching, training in sword styles, and spending time with my boyfriend. My goal is to make you one of the best shinobi in Konoha."

She looked at Shizuka.

"My name is Shizuka. My likes are muffins, friends, training and a certain types of jutsu. My dislikes are annoying fangirls that bring shame to the kunoichi, Orochimaru, people who underestimate individuals, pompous jerks, and rapists. My hobbies are hanging out with my family and moon watching. My goal is to help my friends and something that's none of your concern."

That last part made Yūgao do a curious gaze.

'_She hates Orochimaru and doesn't want to share her other goal. It could involves killing him or something related to him.'_

"My name is Uchiha Tayaka. My likes are my family, Onigiri, and ninjutsu. My dislikes are the same as Shizuka with the addition of the Uchiha clan. My hobbies are cooking and competing with my family. My goals are set and won't be shared."

Yūgao internally frowned.

'_She doesn't like the Uchiha and Orochimaru, refuses to share her goals, and has a thing f- how could she see with her eyes covered?'_

"My name is Roronoa Naruto. My likes are friends, training, anything weight related, swords, meat and fish. I think I might like drinking in the future. My dislikes are morons, evil men, white haired perverts, cowards, and Uchiha Sasuke. My hobbies are sky watching, moon watching, wearing weights, collecting cursed items, collecting swords, training, and sleeping. My goal is to become the greatest and most feared swordsman in all the elemental nations and the other one is classified."

'_Hmm, he's very interesting. Do all of them share a goal?'_

"Alright. Now we're going to training ground 11 so you could take a real genin test. If you fail this test, you will be retained to the academy or go to the reserves. Once we're at the training ground, I'll go into detail about what must be done to pass this test."

With that Yūgao used **Shunshin no Jutsu **to appear at the training grounds.

Naruto looked at his best friends.

"You do know we need to show her little as possible. If we show her too much, she'll report to the Hokage. Use high genin strength. If necessary, use low chunin speed and two b-rank jutsus. Only use c-rank jutsus and lower. Remember we only show our real skills if it involves our main goals in life or if there are very important situations that cannot be avoided. The real genin test is to work as a team, so I can expect her to pass us already. She just needs to report to the Hokage about our abilities and how we passed the test. She already knows about my bokken, Tayaka's **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu** and Shizuka quick thinking. Play it safe and lets move out."

With that the team shunshin to training ground 11.

* * *

**TG 11**

When they arrived Yūgao had two bells on her hip and a timer on a log.

'_Kaka's bell test. She must really want to take her time with us. This is mostly to see what else we have to offer. She an ex-ANBU. That statement alone means she could beat us by the end of the day. We're gonna need to do plan after plan just to end with the bells in our hands.'_

Yūgao and Shizuka were staring at each other.

'_I haven't seen much from her. Maybe she'll be the first to get attacked by me.'_

'_I bet she wants to get me first because I haven't shown her anything yet. If she knew what was good for her, she would get Tayaka first. I'm currently stronger than my teammates when it comes to ninjutsu. Tayaka is the genjutsu specialist. That means she'll be casting a genjutsu when the timer starts. I wonder how long she'll take to dispel it."_

"Alright genin, in my hands are two bells. You have to have a bell before the timer runs out. The person without a bell by the end of the day will be sent back to the academy or the reserves. Any questions?"

Getting no reply, she decided to begin the test.

"BEGIN!"

The team quickly departed to the woods while Yūgao followed Shizuka. Shizuka looked back to see her sensei following her. She spotted Tayaka a few feet away and knew it was time to depart. She quickly turned back to Yūgao and threw seven senbon needles at her. She was about to block it when she felt a presence from behind. Deciding to avoid attacks she **Kawarimi **with a nearby log. Looking around for her genin, she couldn't find them anywhere. She couldn't believe she just let her team get away. Trying to make up for the mistake she quickly went to look for someone to fight.

What she didn't know was someone just whispered **Kori Shinchū no Jutsu (Sly Mind Affect Jutsu)**.

When Yūgao left, Shizuka deemed it safe to talk.

"I used the jutsu that makes her feel like she's just walking around for hours."

Naruto smirked. His sensei will figure it out in less than five minutes, but they need to plan out how they would get the bells without showing too much. It will be difficult considering they had to distract an ANBU for three hours. Shizuka, being the brains of operation, started planning things out. They needed a soundproof plan that was perfect for them to use on Yūgao.

….

Yūgao just escaped the jutsu used by one of her genin.

'_I just fell for a c-rank genjutsu. These guys shouldn't be too underestimated.'_

She still felt that they were holding back.

They wouldn't want to show too much of their skill. If there was any words to describe the group of genin, it was antisocial and secretive. They didn't trust her despite being their new sensei. If this team was gonna work, they needed to be more open with their sensei. Especially if they are holding back. What's the point in helping a genin team if you don't know what they need to improve in their ninja training!

Suddenly, she remembered the fight with Mizuki. She could help Naruto with kenjutsu and ninjutsu. Tayaka is a Uchiha she'll have fire jutsu and genjutsu.

'_She most likely to be the one who cast the genjutsu from earlier.'_

Then there was Shizuka. That was her target. She hadn't seen anything from the girl since she first laid eyes on the genin. What's she good at and why not demonstrate?

Speaking of which…

"Sensei."

Yūgao turned to the side to see the girl leaning on a tree.

"I knew you would have canceled Tayaka-chan's genjutsu around this time."

"So I was right about the Uchiha being the suspect."

Shizuka looked at her sensei in the eyes while twirling her kunai in her hand.

"Yes, you are right. Though we knew you would be out in a short amount of time. It's obvious with you being an ex-ANBU. We also know you're after me. You seen skills from Naru-kun and Tayaka-chan, but you still haven't seen anything from me."

Yūgao narrowed her eyes. '_That how they brought themselves time. They knew from the beginning who I'd go for first. They decided to trap me after that. I have no doubt they'll be chunin sooner than most would think_.'

Shizuka was just staring at her with bored eyes. She really hated when people underestimate them because of their backgrounds. If people found out who she was, they would think twice before going into a fight.

Without a word, Shizuka decided to throw seven shurikens at her sensei. Yūgao easily deflected them using the black tantō attached to her hip. Yūgao quickly ran up to Shizuka and started a taijutsu battle.

They threw kicks and punches at one another. Shizuka used what she learned from Naruto. What people don't have knowledge of is that Naruto and Shizuka are very advanced in taijutsu. Naruto had believed a ninja needs to be more than average in many fields in the arts. Taijutsu was one of the arts Naruto found interesting in since the age of six. Naruto was mostly interested in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and kenjutsu. Those were what Naruto was advanced in the most.

Shizuka dodged a kick to the ribs by Yūgao. She countered with an elbow to the side and then turned her body to kick her in the back of her shins. Yūgao backflip at that move.

'_She's not that bad. She's a low chunin.'_

'_She's buying my attacks. If Naruto didn't instructed us to hold back, she would have ranked me low jonin.'_

Tired of fighting in taijutsu Shizuka decided it was time for a change.

**Enbu: Ni no Dan! (Dance Performance: Second Step).**

Turning into a mini twister. Shizuka started shooting various kunais towards Yūgao. Cursing, Yūgao decided to Shunshin farther away.

'_Shit! I didn't expect her to learn that move from her mother. For someone so young to master that move is a true genius.'_

Yūgao checked herself over. She had a few gashes and cuts, but she'll live.

She decided to go back to the clearing of the training ground.

None of them were able to get bells. Yūgao shook her head. She would have already passed them, but they need to attain the bells by working together. When she arrived in the clearing, Naruto was there with his bokken in hand.

Yūgao couldn't help but think…

'_Am I really that predictable?'_

She drew out her blade and sped towards Naruto full on. Naruto was quick to comply. They did exchanged blows. Naruto did some stances that left his sensei an opening. He didn't want Yūgao to know his potential. Not only that, but he had to distract her long enough for Tayaka to prepare for her next attack. He just needed her to be entertained by his swordsmanship.

Yūgao was frowning. Naruto was doing this on purpose. Why was he missing so many opportunities?

Then Yūgao smirked.

'_He's stalling. He doesn't want to show what he really knows. He doesn't let me cut him, but that left many openings. I want to push him more to see what he's really capable of, but it's obvious he's doing this as a diversion. What the game plan?'_

Three minutes later, Yūgao heard something flying straight at her in a furious speed. She dodged it just in time. Looking at the kunai, she saw a tag.

Widening her eyes she was blown away from the spot. She landed on her feet with no major injuries. Then she threw five shuriken at her fiveo'clock. She heard a small hiss and smirked. Turning she blocked a sneak attack from Naruto. He was going to punch her head. His eyes were wide in shock.

'_How the hell did she block that sneak attack!'_

Yūgao smirked. The kids thought she was easy pickings for how lenient she was with them so far. She was an ANBU. She was done playing nice.

Quickly, she grabbed her left side. She had felt a pang of pain from that explosion.

'_I wasn't hurt from that explosion.'_

She suddenly grabbed the air on her left side which surprised Naruto even more. Yūgao felt something soft and boney. She smirked and kicked the air on her left side. The noise of lost breath was heard. There was a huge dent in a tree next to her. Soon a visible Tayaka appeared in the dent. She was trying to control her breathing.

Yūgao turned to Tayaka.

"Interesting invisibly trick. I gotta know where you learned it. That jutsu could come in handy one day. Sadly for you, I felt an odd sensations on my left side. I also hear a small sigh. You need to control yourself better to use that trick efficiently."

Shizuka appeared at Tayaka's side. She quickly started to treat her with medicine and bandages. Tayaka then sent a smirk to Yūgao.

"Well at least our plan worked Yū-sensei!"

Yūgao frowned at that. She looked at Naruto and Shizuka to see them smiling. Then Yūgao started to feel dizzy. She stumbled to the ground and then everything went black.

…

Yūgao woke up tied to a tree. She looked around to find a clearing. She saw a small fire in the middle. Around it was Naruto, Shizuka, and Tayaka.

"I'm telling you, meat and veggies are great for any occasion. I don't see why you guys think that's a problem. I don't have it everyday. Maybe veggies, but there's nothing wrong with vegetables. You're muffin addiction is another story. Too much muffins are not good. You should try and put some more meat on your bones. We're ninja and we need more energy than a muffin for breakfast. Hell, I'd feel ashamed to be in the same village as a kunoichi on a diet."

Yūgao looked proudly at Naruto's statement. Honestly, she agrees with him on everything he just said about nutrition for ninjas and kunoichi.

"It seems our sensei is awake."said Tayaka while untying her sensei.

Yūgao then walked over to the group. She sat next to Naruto left while Shizuka and sat to his right. Tayaka sat on her sensei left.

"Here you must be hungry after the test. Have some onigiri. I made it just for you."said Tayaka.

Yūgao thanked Tayaka and started eating. She heard them talk about random things. They went from house renovation to clan heirs. Apparently they all didn't like Ino, Sakura, and Sasuke.

Yūgao didn't know how to interact with her team, but then started to get into the flow of their conversations. Yūgao chuckled at bit when Naruto got an extra fish from Shizuka. Naruto wasn't a person to show much feelings unless necessary or when getting more meat and rice. To see him react so happily made her think of her old sensei.

'_It almost reminds me of the good old days'_

When the meals were finished, Yūgao decided to speak.

"So, which one of you will go back to the academy?"

The group gave her a blank expression. Naruto decided to speak in his emotionless voice that sent a tiny shiver down her spine.

"It's either you take all of us or nothing. We are a team and we stay by each other."

The girls nodded in agreement.

Yūgao smiled at them. They would all go far.

"Congratulations, you all passing. How long was I knocked out?"

"You work up right when the test would have finished. Naruto destroyed your timer with his bokken when it was about to ring. He hates those types of noises."

Naruto just nodded and helped Shizuka pack up. Tayaka just shook her head.

When everything was put away and the fire was out, Yūgao looked at the sky. She was offered by her new team to join them in star gazing, but need to go report to the Hokage that her team passed.

She started to make her way to the Hokage tower. Yūgao turned to her team before leaving.

"Be here tomorrow at eight in the morning for the first day of training and missions."

The team nodded and she was gone.

* * *

**Hokage Tower**

Minato was in front of a line of shinobi. He sighed heavily. Kakashi and Kushina were the only people missing for this meeting. Yūgao and Genma came two minutes late. Their excuse was not important to him. Being two minutes late was not exceptional, but at least they didn't take longer. He had to assume Kushina was running after Kakashi.

Speaking of Kushina….

"You need to be on time for these things Kakashi! Minato will be furious with you! Next time you are late to a meeting, you'll find all those books you keep burned in a pit of fire!"

Minato was shuttered on the inside. He knew his wife was angry with Kakashi, but this type of anger is something that shouldn't be seen.

Lining up in order from teams, the meeting finally began.

"Now that everyone is here…"

He shot a look at Kakashi.

"The meeting can finally begin. Team 1 can start us off."

"Team 1 failed."

"Team 2 failed."

"Team 3 failed."

"Team 4 failed."

"Team 5 failed."

"Team 6 passed."

Everyone looked at Genma. No civilian team has ever passed.

Minato restrained a sigh. He has nothing against civilian teams, but they were often killed in the field. They either died from things like the chunin exam or missions that don't turn out as planned. He just hoped this team will be around longer than average.

"Team 7 passed."

"Team 8 passed."

"Team 10 passed."

"Team 11 passed."

"Team 12 passed."

Minato smile when he heard all his kids passed.

"Now all jonin that had declared their teams have failed, please bring the paper report tomorrow morning. You are dismissed."

"Hai Hokage-sama!"

Left in the room were seven teams. Minato had to admit this was more teams than he expected there to be in his office. Now was the time he gathered the reports of each member of the team.

"Now let's continue with the team assessment."

Genma stepped forward.

"My team of civilians will be a great team. The girl Ami seems to be a fangirl for Sasuke. That will need to be beaten out of her. Ryu was someone that impressed me. He seems to have a great knowledge of ninja and has a mind set of a chunin. He is proficient in taijutsu and low on genjutsu. Shoma was questionable. He appears to be average in ninjutsu and taijutsu. He is only intelligent during combat, but he is a clown in anything involving studying."

To many of the jonin. These kids sounded like a weird team. Civilians don't have that much capability. They must have worked very hard to have that much power.

"Anyways, they work great together and have many flaws that I will be polishing out. This team will go far."

Minato smiled at that. Ryu was an orphan who reminded him of his younger days.

Next, Kakashi stepped up.

"My team barely passed the bell test I gave them. Sasuke refused to work with Sakura. Sakura only wanted to work with Sasuke. Sai was the only voice of reason. He convinced the team to work together to get the bells from me. Sakura has academy level taijutsu and genjutsu, Sasuke has his clan jutsu, and Sai has chunin ninjutsu and taijutsu. I gave them a second chance. Sakura ended up being tied to a log while the others ate. Sai and Sasuke offered her food. In general they barely passed."

Minato nodded. He would have to guide Kakashi when it comes to the team.

Kurenai then stepped up.

"The team did amazing. There are some difficulties with Kiba. Apparently, he believes that he could beat anyone because he's an alpha. Shino and Hinata worked together and pulled Kiba away to safety. They worked together magnificently. Hinata has to overcome her shy nature, Kiba needs to get over his alpha nature, and Shino needs to bond more with his teammates. This team will do fantastic together."

Asuma then stood next to her.

"My team needs some tweaking. Shikamaru has to overcome his lazy attitude, Chōji needs to be more initiative and less lenient, Ino was the one who pulled the group together. She's still a fan girl, but she knows what's truly important in a task. I think this team will be great."

Minato chuckled a bit. They reminded him so much of the old Ino-Shika-chō team. It was always Inoichi who help make the group work when they were younger.

Yūgao took at step forwards.

Everyone was curious of how her team did.

It was no secret in Konoha that Naruto had changed his last name. Rumors were going around about him either being disowned or leaving his family. Many were wondering why the Hokage's oldest son had left the Namikaze family. A small rumor was that Naruto is trying to make a name for himself. Villagers were gossiping about Naruto rapidly. Some even went to Naruto's hangouts to see what they knew.

"Team 11 passed. It's obvious that Shizuka is the brains of the group and Naruto is the leader of the two. Since they were all well acquainted with each other, they passed the test easily. I gave them the bell test and they passed and stating that it's either all or none of them being in the is great in genjutsu and ninjutsu. Shizuka hid most of her abilities, but has great taijutsu and ninjutsu. Naruto is good with kenjutsu and ninjutsu. From our small bonding experience after the test, I found that Naruto never pulls out his other four blades. The reason was never known. He prefers to use the bokken. I asked if he can use his other blades and he responded with a yes. He only will use his true abilities and skills when facing a swordsman or enemies. I was told from Naruto and Tayaka that Shizuka has great abilities, but she hides her main abilities unless necessary. Tayaka is a mystery too. She can still see even if her eyes are covered. I asked her if she unlocked the Sharingan, but she told me she was never going to be able to unlock it. If she ever did, she'd rip her eyes out and retire as a ninja."

That got wide eyes from everyone in the room. The kids were all mysterious in many ways. Though the part of Tayaka ripping her eyes out was shocking and a bit disturbing.

'_Where did Naruto learn kenjutsu and ninjutsu?'_thought a confused Minato and Kushina.

Kushina then stepped forward.

"Team 12 passed. Mina and Mito still have issues that will be worked out. Nawaki has been keeping the two balanced. He possesses some abilities that remind me of you Minato. They displayed what they usually do in our family training sessions."

Minato smiled at that. Nawaki was always a loving brother to his sisters. He was a peace keeper. His personality was still goofy and unpredictable. Minato was happy that Nawaki was going to be the next Namikaze clan head. He will also be a great leader for the village in the future. Minato had dreamt of handing his son the hat.

"This your all dismissed. Remember to all report tomorrow for your first mission with your genin."

"Hai Hokage-sama!"

Everyone left but Kushina.

"I'm worried about Naruto."

Minato frowned at that. In reality, he didn't know what to think of this situation. He thought Naruto was happy being in the family. Why did he change his name?

"He hasn't been home for days. I don't even remember seeing him at home. I'll talk to him after his mission with his team."

He walked up to Kushina and gave her a loving kiss on the cheek.

Kushina was in her own world of thoughts. Why hasn't Naruto been home? Surely he needed to come back for food and a place to sleep. He couldn't just leave the family.

'_Where are you Naruto? I'm sorry for whatever we have done to make you go away. You're my little sochi. You couldn't have left. I know I wasn't there for you, but I'm here now. I will do everything it takes to make everything up to you.'_

Then her eyes started to water a little.

She was in denial like Minato. Surely they couldn't be that bad of parents towards Naruto. They were probably overreacting. They didn't forget about Naruto.

Naruto was the same boy to Kushina. He was a calm individual who would do anything for their siblings.

Minato was thinking Naruto was just sad because he didn't join training. Naruto was just a boy who needs to know a few jutsu and then be satisfied. Jiraiya made it perfectly clear that his other siblings needed their full attention. With the prophecy and everything, Naruto needed to be trained last. The kids are close to completing their fourth tails state. When they get to nine he would train Naruto into a proper shinobi. The kids are the ones of prophecy and they needed to go first.

Minato didn't like leaving Naruto behind for others benefits, but if they were the chosen ones like Jiraiya predicted, they absolutely went first. Minato was the Hokage and if he needed to train Naruto at a later time, he will do it. Nawaki, Mina, and Mito were the ones the elder toad fortold. He will do anything if it meant saving this world and bring peace.

'_Why would he change his last name?!'_

Minato couldn't find an answer.

Naruto was fine. This mess will be sorted out. Naruto will come back home and be a loving brother to his siblings. He may not go far in his ninja career, but he'll be happy with his family.

"Please talk to him."

Minato hugged his wife from behind.

"I will."

* * *

AN: What knocked Yūgao out? How will Minato confrot his son? All this and more on chapter 9.


	9. Chapter 9

This is for Valentine's Day. Enjoy.

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 9: 'Family'

**Roronoa Household**

Naruto had woken from a dream. He turned his head to the door. Nobody has barged into his room, so that meant he woke up early. Getting up, he walked over to his closet. He quickly grabbed his clothes and a towel.

Suddenly he heard yelling from both Tayaka and Shizuka from the backyard.

He quickly ran towards the shower. One thing he learned quickly was that the girls get really competitive when it came to competing against each other. He usually had to break them up. That in itself was too troublesome.

In the Nara clan household , two Nara's sneezed loudly.

Getting out of the shower, he quickly changed in his usual attire. The shouts became louder. That meant that they were about to let hell loose. He decided that it might be best to go get muffins for the girls. That usually calmed them down a bit. He didn't mind them training early in the morning, but they usually break something. Their actions always somehow get him hurt. If he wasn't hurt, then something was broken.

He didn't know what was worse.

He entered the shopping district of the village unaware of someone following him.

* * *

Kushina had just gotten out to shop for ingredients for the kids breakfast. She was walking into the shopping district when a boy caught her attention. This boy in particular had four swords and a bokken strapped to his side.

'_Didn't Yūgao-chan say Naruto used a bokken?'_

Deciding to observe the boy a bit, Kushina quickly went into an ally and hanged herself into a civilian woman. When she came out, Naruto was still walking down the street in a slow pace. In Kushina's opinion, it felt like they were walking forever. That was until Naruto turned the corner and enter a store she never seen before. Walking in, she took a look around the shop while observing her son. She noticed there was a bunch of baked goods everywhere.

'_Is this a bakery?'_

Suddenly Naruto started talking to an old pair at the counter.

"Good morning Azumi."

The old lady was smiling brightly at Naruto

"Hello Naruto, how's the new house improvement. I know moving into a new house is stressful."

Kushina's eyes widened at that. Her eldest son didn't really run away. He moved out.

"Everything is going along fine since the girls haven't destroyed anything as of lately. I might have to build a training ground further in the backyard. I could still hear them training from my room. I just finished setting up the new library. You should've come over sometime and have some tea with us."

Azumi smiled at how Naruto was progressing in everything. She remembered when the boy was younger, he was depressed and serious all the time. Now, he was more sociable with them and had an air of calmness. Though he could be a bit too blunt towards her husband.

Speaking of her husband…

"Oh I see the purple gaki came for the daily muffins."

Kushina turned her eyes the strongest old man she had ever seen in her life.

"Ahhh I see you are still moving around."

The man couldn't help but smirk. Of course he would make a comment like that.

"I see you're still the maid of the three."

"I'm not the maid, but I sometimes like to walk in and buy your bread because we're the only people who are common customers. If you ask me, the people of this village undermined the place."

They smiled at that. It's true that the people seem to not come here as much. That's why they were thankful to Shizuka. She always comes for her muffins.

"Anyways, I think I'll be taking the usual today. I'll also be taking a loaf of bread for dinner today. It's my turn to cook."

Kushina's mind was going a hundred miles. She wasn't expecting for Naruto to act so differently. Nawaki and Mito act so immature and loud for their age. Mina acts like somebody who'd rather be reading than be in a loud environment. Naruto on the other hand, acts like an adult with a bored tone.

The old man went to the back to fill Naruto's order. Azumi waited to talk until the old man had left.

"So, when's the wedding."

Kushina though she had died when those words were said to Naruto.

'_He's too young! No girl is going to take away my sochi. I don't even know her to give her my blessing to marry him!'_

"Azumi-san, you know I don't see her as anything but a friend. I've been saying that for years. Right now I'm just focused on my goals. If someone comes along in the future, then maybe I'll go out with them."

"My boy someone perfect has come along. You're just too dence to see when a lady is interested. You have girls looking your way all the time!"

Kushina and Naruto went wide eyed. Naruto more than kushina. He had no idea girls were interested in him. He's too busy to notice a girl liking him.

Kushina shouldn't have been surprised at Naruto attracting girls. Nawaki and Minato always attract girls. In her opinion, Naruto attracting girls is a different story. If there were girls going after Naruto, they'll have to get passed her first.

"Here's your order brat."

The old man returned from the back with Naruto's order. From what Kushina could tell, it was filled with muffins and a loft of bread on the side.

"Arigato, Ojiisan. Good luck with that bold problem. It's not going away at all."

Azumi had to hold her husband back from the blunt boy. Kushina held back a laugh. Looking back at Naruto, she noticed he had the same bored expression on his face. That either meant he was being mean or blunt. She frowned at the thought. If Naruto was so blunt, that meant people will confuse it for being mean. She knew that Naruto is not a mean person. He was a Namikaze after all.

"Greet the girls for me Naruto!"

Checking the time, Naruto quickly left to his house to give the girls their breakfast.

Kushina decided to buy two loads of bread anyways. It was in her shopping list. The old man was more than happy to help Kushina. When she was about to walk out the door, the old man yelled at her.

"Next time don't come in a henge. I don't care if you're a shinobi or one of the gaki's fan girls. My daily customers know not use jutsu in this building. Have a nice day!"

"How did you know?"

The old man smirked.

"My wife and I are veteran shinobi. We are one of the few people who are still alive that have seen the second Hokage before he died. Naruto reminds me of Tobirama-sama. Expect, Naruto is more kind to people. Tobirama was more of a serious man."

With that said, the man went to the back of the shop.

Kushina felt a little embarrassed that the man knew she wore a henge this whole time, but decided to shake it off and go shopping. She did need to feed her family.

* * *

**Roronoa Household **

Naruto made it back just before the girls were about to burst in his room. He explained to the girls that he went to the bakery for their daily muffins. They all went to the kitchen. It hasn't had any special touches yet but all they had for now was the table and refrigerator. Tomorrow they were going to buy a stove and food.

"I never complemented you on the plan."

Shizkua looked at Naruto in the eyes.

"I should be thanking you. You told me to pack my knock out coated senbon."

During Shizuka's training with poison, she discovered a liquid type of poison that can knock a person out in two minutes. They just have to be coating a knife or senbon. Once a person has it in their bloodstream, they blackout for a small amount of time.

"The plan was amazing. Having Naruto distract sensei while Shizuka sends her fly towards me was brilliant. I used my new genjutus that makes me appear invisible. The problem with the jutsu was that I couldn't keep quiet so that sensei didn't have any suspicions. She ended up throwing me to a tree."

Shizuka patted her on the back.

"At least you were able to put the senbon in her side. If you couldn't do that, the plan would've been a failure."

After eating, they decided to go to their training ground.

On their way out, they were stopped by a knock on the door.

Quickly, Shizuka went to answer. Opening the door, she was greeted by an ANBU.

"Roronoa Naruto?"

Nodding she moved to the side to let Naruto be in front of the ANBU.

"The Hokage requests your presence. Your teammates are to inform your jonin instructor that you are with the Hokage."

Grabbing Naruto's shoulder and shunshin to the Hokage tower.

Tayaka sighed. She knew that she'd have to get takeout with Shizuka. When Naruto talks about his former family, he is usually at the training field till midnight.

Shizuka grabbed Tayaka's hand and dragged her to the training field. If there was one thing she hates, it being late.

* * *

**Hokage Tower **

Minato and Kushina were in the Hokage office waiting patiently for their son. Minato was sitting in his chair with Kushina to his right.

He sighed to himself softly. He was supposed to talk with Naruto after the team's missions, but Kushina had told him of how Naruto has been acting lately. She had convinced him to see Naruto before any missions for the genin were supposed to be handed out. In his opinion, none of this was necessary. Naruto was just wanting to get their attention like Nawaki did when he was younger.

'_Kushina is overreaction as usual. He just needs a bit of our attention and he'll be fine.'_

Suddenly an ANBU shunshined into the room.

"Here's Roronoa as you requested Hokage-sama."

The ANBU was dismissed and the room was dead silent. Naruto looked at the Hokage with a blank expression while Minato looked at his son with a serious expression.

Minatio decided to break the silence.

"Naruto, please have a seat."

Naruto took at seat. He kept staring at the Hokage with uncaring eyes that made Minato flinch on the inside. That didn't sop him in scolding Naruto.

"Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, why did you leave your home?"

Naruto eyes never left Minato.

"Your ANBU came to my home stating that you needed to see me Hokage-_sama_ that is why I left my home."

Minato frowned at his son. He should know better than to talk to him like that. Why is Naruto even acting like this? Where that smile?

"No you haven't Naruto. I haven't seen you at home for a long time. What have you been doing?"

"That home is your home Hokage-sama, not mine. I live on my own now. Since I'm a ninja of this village, I'm considered as an adult. I have used my own money and brought my own home. I live in it with my teammates and we are in the process of doing repairs. I'm a bit surprised you haven't noticed I moved out since I was rarely seen in that house."

Minato and kushina flinched at this. Naruto was talking so uncaring and a bit coldly to them. It didn't help that Naruto had confirmed that he left the Namikaze home. Minato decided to get some more information.

"How did you even afford the house? Where did you get the money to buy one in this village?"

Naruto pulled out his wallet showed them the money he had in it. Kushina and Minato's eyes widened the size of dinner plates. Kushina's mouth hun open.

"I found a rare type of coin that was worth a lot of money. The coin is older that Hashirama by many years. When I discovered this I pawned it. In return, I was paid more than any person in this village. I have almost an equal amount of money as the fire daimyo."

After seeing the amount of money he currently has, Minato couldn't deny his son being rich.

"I brought the house the day after I graduated the academy."

Minato looked intently at his son.

"Listen Naruto, I think it's great that you brought a house, but you don't need one. You have a home here with us. You don't want to leave us behind. I promise I'll fix whatever has made you leave our home. You don't have to move out and change your name. I'll even teach you a few jutsu. Just come home."

Naruto's eyes hardened. He couldn't believe his _parents_ didn't understand the true reason he left. He expected Minato to know why already, but then he remembered everything that happened _that_ fateful day on his birthday. All the crying and pain that his parents had caused him. How Jiraiya humiliated him. Naruto was not coming back. Naruto was boiling angry at his parents. Zoro had to calm him down instantly.

'_Calm down Naruto! You can't lose yourself in this conversation. Listen to me! '_

Naruto started to calm down. His eyes were still cold, but he was calm enough to give a response without yelling at them.

"No."

Silence filled the room. Minato couldn't believe his son just said no to them and Kushina was trying her hardest to not cry.

"I don't want to learn from you and I don't want to live with you. In fact, I don't want anything to do with you. All I will do involving you is work for you as a shinobi of this village. I'm Roronoa Naruto and as far as I'm concerned, Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto died a long time ago."

Silence was all that was heard from the office.

"Now if you will excuse me, I don't want to keep my team waiting any longer. I have to go and get some training in too. Good day Hokage-sama. You too Kushina-sama."

Naruto got up from his chair and walked out of the Hokage office.

Minato was going to go after his son, until Kushina started crying. If there is something Minato hates, its seeing his wife cry. Minato got off of his chair and held Kushina. He doesn't like seeing her cry because it was his job to make her happy. She deserves the best that life has to offer. Naruto's abandonment caused her to cry and made Minato even more determined to bring his son back into his family.

"He didn't call me Kaa-chan. He called me Kushina-sama! Minato, I want him to come back. I want to show Naruto how much I love him. We didn't mean to push him away."

Minato felt his heart break. He was starting to have doubts about spending all his time so invested in the kids training. He felt that Naruto was pushed away because of the neglect that he had experienced from his siblings coming first.

He held kushina in a loving fashion.

"Don't worry hime, Naruto is still our son. We both made mistakes. We'll bring him back."

'_Naruto, I failed you my son. I will try to make things right.'_

* * *

**TG 11**

Currently Tayaka and Shizuka are being taught about the art of wires. Yūgao had explained to the girls that most ninjas use kunai and shuriken in the ninja field, but only a few used wires.

Yūgao looked at her students. Tayaka looked like she was suffer from boredom. Yūgao quickly learned that the girl didn't care for things like shurikens and kunai. Shizuka was what interested her at the moment. She looked like she was thinking her head off. Her eyes kept looking calculated on the wire. Yūgao knew that she was paying attention because of the question that she kept asking, but what was the girls mind.

Shizuka kept looking at the wire. She had been trying to develop a trap technique that could cover an area full of opponents. When her sensei started the lesson on wire, she realized that a poison wires trap could be the perfect idea. Internally, she knew that not all her attacks should be poison based. It was a habit she enjoyed thorough. She was still learning fuuton jutsus and had been practicing her taijutsu.

She heard someone walking behind her and then turned her head to see Naruto.

He was angry.

He quickly ran to the training post and started to use his taijutsu on a training dummy.

Deciding to check on him, she started getting up. A hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Shizuka-chan, I know you're worried about him. You need to give him a bit of space. You know he'll come back when he's cooled down. This is his way of venting out his frustration."

Shizuka sighed and looked towards Tayaka.

"You're right."

Yūgao decided to ask her question.

"Why is he so upset in the first place?"

The girls turned to Yūgao with sad smiles.

"Yū-sensei, the blond idiot is the one who will tell you when he's ready to confide in you. I can tell you that it involves his old family, the Namikaze."

Yūgao looked at the direction of the training ground Naruto headed towards. She knows of the boy's drama with the family. That he moved out of the compound and had his own house. She didn't know anything beyond that information.

Deep inside, Yūgao was sad that her new genin team wasn't as trusting as she thought they'd be towards her.

Reading he thoughts Tayaka decided to speak with her sensei.

"Yū-sensei, I know you feel we don't trust you and you are right in some aspects to think that. You are our sensei and we do respect you. Hell, I don't think we'd like any other sensei than you. Right now you need to understand that for us trust takes time. We don't know how you would react to everything we tell you. There are things that we know that many don't and these things could affect our futures. We need to get to know you in order to confide in you."

Yūgao sat in silence taking in everything that was said to herself.

'_What are you hiding that make all of you so cautious around me?'_

Yūgao then decided that she will work hard to gain her genin's trust. She felt like those secrets are important. She felt her team will be important in the future. Since the day she first encountered them, she knew they were special. That they will be great shinobi in the future.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her other student returning from his venting session.

"Sorry sensei, I need to get a little out of my system before coming back."

She nodded at him.

"Alright now that we are all grouped up, I think it's best to start three missions and then start our group training."

Tayaka gave a sluggish expression while Shizuka chuckled a bit at Tayaka dismay. Naruto just had a look of boredom.

"You gotta be kidding me, we have to do those lame D-ranked missions!"

"D-rank mission are what every genin does once they graduate from the academy. I know chunin shinobi usually get C-rank missions, but I heard some genin go to C-rank missions after completing a certain quota and gaining the approval of their sensei."stated Shizuka.

Tayaka made a determined pose.

"Then let's go and get this over with."

* * *

**8 Hours Later**

Team 11 was walking out of Hokage office after finishing their third mission. Tayaka was in a better spirit now that she treated everything like a serious life or death mission. Their sensei found it entertaining that one moment Tayaka could be a cute and annoying bundle of joy to a serious shinobi in a few seconds. According to her teammates, Tayaka was the light of the group. She didn't have to hide her true nature after the Uchiha's died. Since then, Tayaka didn't have to hold a submissive appearance. In her words, the Uchiha were a bunch of pompous people who believe they would never be defeated because of their precious eyes.

The only people she actually liked from the Uchiha were Shisui, Itachi, Mikoto, and Izumi.

The group was currently walking towards the exit until Shizuka decided to stop.

"Yū-sensei, would you like to join us for dinner. Naruto will be getting takeout tonight. I think if you are able to bond with us more, you might feel more comfortable with being our sensei. We might not talk about some things because they are secret we don't feel you should know yet, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't know everything else about us besides that."

She was shocked that they wanted to spend more time with her outside of their scheduled meeting times; but that wouldn't stop her from spending time with her genin.

"Yeah I'd like that if Naruto and Tayaka are sure."

She looked at said genin and was shocked with their responses.

Tayaka literally gave her a hug and told her it would be great to have her as their first guest. Naruto had his arms crossed and nodded in her direction.

"Okay, enough with this little fest, let's get to training."

* * *

**Roronoa Household**

Yūgao couldn't help but give a deadpan look at their household. When she was invited to their house, she expected it to be almost like a small cottage or something along those lines. Looking at the house in front of her now, she knew that the house was anything but modern.

It pretty much screams comfort. It was located at the edge of the village. The complete opposite side of where the other clan households were located. It looked to be two stories high. Unlike the other Konoha houses and buildings, the house's roof was more of a very dark purple. There was a beautiful wooden balcony on the second floor of the house. Three windows were seen on the top. On the bottom, it showed a beautiful wooden deck with two small front steps. Their door was a rich purple. A black drawing of what appeared to be crossed swords was located in the middle. The house looked amazing in general.

"One of you has to be rich. You have this house and a training ground."

Entering the house, Naruto stated, "I brought the house and a portion of the forest. Since we are the only people who are technically living on this street, I decided to buy a small amount of land for the training ground. It's where we all train when we aren't at our training ground."

Yūgao gave Naruto a skeptical look.

"Yes Yū-sensei, Im technically rich."

Shaking her head, she decided to look around a bit. The house looked great in general. The furniture in the living room was either made cherry wood or leather. There was a round wooden table in the middle and a leather loveseat on the left side of the entrance. On the right there was an entrance to what appeared to be a kitchen. Many things were missing in the kitchen. It covered a large portion of the house.

The left side of the house was the living area and the right side of the house was the kitchen. The kitchen has a wooden steps made out of cherry wood. She was about to go upstairs when a hand on her shoulder caught her attention.

"You aren't allowed up stairs yet sensei."

Tayaka took her hand off of her shoulder.

A poof of smoke caught their attention.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

The kitchen now had two blond gakis.

"I need you to get the food that I ordered from Kumiko's and the supreme veggie with sauce. I'll going to prepare the table. If you aren't back in less than an hour, you will be my helper for either my weight sets or my sparring partner. You leave now."

The clone nodded his head and quickly left the house.

While Naruto was setting the table, the girls went back to the living rim to talk.

"So sensei, when are we going to meet this Hayate you keep speaking about."

Yūgao blushed a little at Tayaka. She couldn't believe that Tayaka was one of those girls.

"He's a nice guy, I'm sure you'll meet him soon because he wants to help you guys train on his spare time."

Shizuka raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything about that.

"Actually sensei, you never told us if you had any specialties. Like Naruto's specialty is actually kenjutsu."

"Mine is also kenjutsu. I have kenjutsu and ninjutsu as my specialties. Hayate is the same."

Shizuka nodded at the information. She had to admit, they were learning a lot from Yūgao. Currently they are trying to develop more taijutsu since she believed the team was lacking in different forms. The only person who caught her by surprise was Naruto. Their sensei claimed that only two people know as Gai and Lee were able to overpower her in taijutsu. She highly recommend Naruto to seek them, but he refused.

"What's yours Shizuka?"

"Mines is quite complicated. I can't reveal it until later, but I can say it has been shown by one person. It's actually really different from said person, but the person used it and became a traitor. After the person betrayed all of us, many of this person known techniques are considered cruel and inhuman. I am different from this person. I only used one thing that this person uses and my goal is to bring it to light. I will not let it be tainted by that traitor."

Yūgao felt two emotions. She felt happy that her genin had opened up to her. It might have been small pieces of information, but it was progress. The other feeling she was experiencing was caution. The way Shizuka describes it was interesting to say the least. This person was known for something frowned upon in this village and Shizuka only uses one thing they were known for here. Konoha was known for little missing-nin. One being the current Uchiha Itachi. The most known of them was Orochimaru. Yūgao frowned internally. It took little to hide her reaction. She was used to hiding her feelings.

Could it be that she's experimenting on herself? Is she testing forbidden jutsu? Experimenting with DNA?

She looked back at Shizuka who was talking with Tayaka.

No.

Shizuka was different from him. Which left only one other card on the table.

Poison.

Before Yugao could think more of this discovery, the Naruto clone burst into the house.

Naruto walked into the room and hit the clone on the back of the head

"How many times do I have to tell you not to barge in our home. It is rude and impolite and I don't care if you were being timed by me. As punishment you will be going one round against the girls when they are training and competing against each other. If you do it again, I will make you do it five times."

The clone sighed and walked into the kitchen with all the take out food in his hands. He placed everything on the table and left in a poof of smoke.

The girls walked in and their sensei thought she was hallucinating when she saw every inch of the table being covered with food.

"Don't panic sensei, most of this food will go to Naruto's stomach, especially the meats. Now let's eat!"

* * *

**Village Streets**

Yūgao was walking home from her genin's house. She had enjoyed her time with her genin. She had made some shocking discoveries about her genin and she got to learn a little more about them. She was invited to come to their house again in three days.

She smiled at how they would act around her and each other. They had made it very clear that she was more than just their sensei. She was family.

Finally making it to her destination, she closed the door behind her and was greeted by the sight of her lover.

"How was your night with the genin?"

She gave Hayate a passionate kiss.

"It was great."

He pulled back from the kiss and embraced her tightly.

"This team of yours will be the greatest in the village. I can feel it."

Yūgao smiled at him.

"They will."

* * *

"Aghhh."

Naruto was pushing his body. After their sensei left, he decided to go to the weight room upstairs and do some lifting.

_'He thinks he could still scold me like that!'_

He was thinking about his _parents_ and how they finally talked to him. If that's what a talk is to them. It felt like a jury trial. He set the weights down and walked the training ground down stairs. Maybe the training dummy could take his mind off things. he cracked his knuckles and sped there only to be stopped by Shizuka who was standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Something on your mind?"

Naruto shook his head but knew there was nothing he could hide from her. He didn't know how she could read him like a book. Maybe its because of all the time they had been spending with each other. Sure that usually involved Tayaka, but they haven't really been alone together.

"Come on."

Naruto decided to follow her. They walked towards their training ground.

She stopped in the middle of the field and faced him.

"What did they tell you?"

Naruto took a deep breath. He's gonna have to tell her.

_'Stubborn women.'_

He told her everything.

"AND THEY STILL DON'T KNOW!"

Naruto threw his arms in the air. He grabbed his head.

Shizuka hasn't said a word while hearing Naruto's rant. She couldn't blame him. She never liked his parents.

She walked up to Naruto and grabbed the hands he had on his head.

He looked up to see Shizuka looking at him in the eyes with something he couldn't explain.

"I can't say I understand your frustrations or feelings, but I can say that their idiots. They made a mistake that no parent should make. They forgot about their own child. Then after discovering that, they think they could come back into your life like nothing is wrong. Like nothing ever happened. Thinking that you are just a child who needs attention. If I was in your shoes, I wouldn't forgive and forget what they did."

She grabbed left his hand a caressed it.

"Just know, whatever you decided to do, I will be there for you. We will always be their for you, because that's what families do. We stick together."

She started to walk away towards the house. She stopped and turned her head back to Naruto.

"Remember, that if someone truly cares about you, they wouldn't leave you behind no matter what."

Shizuka left to the house.

_'My boy someone perfect has come along.'_

Naruto shook his head and followed Shizuka back home.

* * *

AN: I bet you know what's the next chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry for the late chapter.

**Blackplant- I know and thanks for reminding me to update them. I actually copied and pasted from my old flash drive from 2012. In hindsight, I should have corrected them before posting. They will be fixed. Only chapters 1-9 were pre written.**

**Raphsim- Thanks for pointing that out. I was going to leave Saki in there because of my friend, but its probably better to put sake instead.**

**AugustoSpiller1259- It's a cliffhanger. You'll find out what happened that day in later chapters. **

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 10: Nami no Kuni

Team 11 was coming back form another C-rank mission.

"Naruto, can you please let me kill the cat!"

Naruto looked at Tayaka like she was crazy.

"What kind of example would we be setting if I let you harm the cat. We need to act professionally even if the cat gets on your nerves. Look at Shizuka. You don't see her trying to kill the poor cat. You don't see Shizuka trying to kill the poor creature."

Shizuka nodded her head but was imagining different ways to murder the cat. It had scratched the girls all over their arms and face. The only person who remains unscathed was Naruto and their sensei.

Naruto was walking next to their sensei. He was holding the cat in his arms. It purred as Naruto held it. He chuckled at the cat.

'How can something so cute cause harm?'

"Why haven't you been clawed alive, blondie?" asked an annoyed Tayaka.

Naruto felt a tickmark make its way to his forehead.

"Its because animals love me. Ever since I was young, animals seem to be attached to me. It makes sense that animals would attack you. What kind of creature would want to be in your arms? Hentai."

Naruto quickly withdrew his bokken to defend himself from Tayaka's rath. Zoro was smiling at the sight. The two reminded him of his friendship with the Ero-cook.

Zoro watched how Naruto avoided her with the technique that he taught him. He was impressed with how Naruto was progressing each day.

Yūgao looked at her team with amusement. They had bonded the past few months. Since they've been together, Yūgao felt she knew her genin like the back of her hand.

Tayaka was an energetic gaki with the spirit of a lioness. She was always the person who tried to cheer her companions up. Although she is the most loud-mouth member of the team, she makes up for it with her determination and loyalty. Her personality reminded Yūgao of Anko. She was mischieve, energetic, obnoxious, and seductive. She was glad the two haven't met. Yūgao couldn't imagine the result of the two girls uniting. The mere thought sent shivers down her spine.

_'Anko will be a bad influence on Tayaka. Hopefully, they never meet.'_

Shizuka reminded Yūgao of herself. She was a kind-hearted girl with a terrible bite. She very family-oriented since the only people she sees as a family is Naruto, Tayaka, and Tokiwa. During missions, she was determined to finish with perfection. It annoyed Tayaka that Shizuka was always making room for improvement and knowledge.

When Shizuka is angry, she transforms into a vicious girl. Yugao never wants to see that side of her again.

The girl was alway doing seen doing something. She barely was seen being relaxed. Shizuka didn't like to whine down and do nothing. Tayaka says that Shizuka is always thinking of improvements. She only thinks about being efficient in her career as a ninja.

The only time she's not doing anything Shinobi related is when she is around Naruto or Tayaka.

Naruto was very different from the girls. He had an antisocial problem. Naruto didn't like spending time with people outside his teammates' group. He is also an introvert inside the group. Naruto usually enjoys spending time alone. The only person he seemed to talk to was Hayate. If anyone tried to talk to him, he would either respond with short replies or ignore it.

Tayaka had told Yūgao that he used to be very kind, but after his last year in the academy, he became more serious.

Naruto did have a small number of people who he liked being around. One of those people was Anko. Yūgao saw that they had a brother-sister relationship. Anko was like a teasing big sister while Naruto was an embarrassed little brother. She found out that Friday was their boning day if they didn't have missions. They were either found in the dango shop at the village or the training grounds.

Then there are people like Momoko and the old couple from the village. Naruto would be walking the young adult to her shop. Momoko and Naruto didn't converse a lot because of their busy lives. The old couple that works at the bakery is who the team frequently visits. Shizuka is cranky when she doesn't receive her daily muffin. It was almost mandatory for the members to retrieve them from the bakery. Naruto usually went on that mission in the morning. He would start conversations about anything with the cute couple. It almost looked like they were his parents.

Naruto was someone who you can find either reading, training, or weight lifting. She was shocked at the number of weights he uses. He had everything from weight seals to barbells. To lift a massive amount for his body should be harmful. She thought she needed to consult Tsunade about this. The girls had reassured her that Naruto could handle the weights. He had rest days from those instruments.

The boy, in general, was a mystery to her and many others. Ausma, Gai, and Kurenai had been curious about the genin in her team. When she was going to answer their question, Kakashi would stop her saying that they were just a civilian team beginning their shinobi careers.

Safe to say, Kakashi was Yūgao's least favorite colleague.

Once they stopped fighting each other, Naruto put the cat on his shoulder. The cat kept rubbing its head against Naruto while its claws sunk into his shoulder. Naruto wasn't bothered by the cat's claws.

_'I wonder when Shizuka is going to ask the blond out or if Naruto will ever figure out that Shizuka-chan has a crush on him.'_

Tayaka smirked at the teasing she was going to give Shizuka when the time came.

* * *

**Hokage Tower**

They entered the Hokage tower when they saw someone headed their way. Once they were in sight, they discovered it was both teams 8 and 12.

"Hello, Shizuka-san."

Shizuka looked at Kiba. He was staring at her body like a dog.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out with alpha and future clan heir like me. It would be my treat."

Kiba walked up to her until they were inches apart.

Shizuka took two steps back.

"That's very kind of you Kiba-san, but I don't want to go out with you. You're a good guy, but I think it's best we are just friends".

Kiba sighed and turned to Tayaka.

"No."

Tayaka pat Kiba on the shoulder and told him that there was someone out there that would want to go out on a date with him.

"You need to be patient. You'll find your love with patience."

Kiba smiled softly at Tayaka. In truth, he always had a crush on her and Hinata.

Looking at Naruto, Kiba gaped at the sight of the demon cat snuggling him.

"Why aren't you being clawed alive by that fiend!"

Naruto looked at Kiba annoyed.

"Animals tend to like me for some reason. Cats and dogs do too."

Akamaru barked in agreement.

He then proved his statement by rubbing the cat's head. It purred in delight.

Everyone couldn't believe that Naruto was immune to Torra.

Team 8 left to start the next mission. Hinata waved hesitantly at Naruto. He was confused at the fact that she would wave at him. He decided to nod at her because he didn't want to say anything to Nawaki's girlfriend.

Team 12 looked at team 11. Kushina had her eyes on Tayaka and Shizuka. She didn't know who it was the baker mentioned that could be the possible love interest for Naruto. It was probably someone from Naruto's team, but she didn't know. Kushina made it a mission to find out who was interested in her son.

The rest of the team was looking directly at Naruto. Ever since he moved out of the Namikaze compound, the family has become quite different.

Nawaki has been training roughly. He kept remembering the time that he and Naruto would spend together. He was angry at himself for breaking his promise. He kept getting angry with himself that he continued to let the anger out during training.

Mito didn't know how to react toward him. She was so self-centered that she didn't realize she barely had any good memories with her siblings. That thought alone made her sad.

Mina was a completely different story in general.

She wasn't mad at Naruto. When she found that Naruto had left the compound, she had been bawling her eyes out for weeks. She dreams of Naruto and her spending time with each other and when they drifted apart. Unlike her siblings, she understood why he left. It was because of how the family had treated him. Naruto would never leave without reason.

Mina made a promise that she would support Naruto no matter what happens. She already failed him as a imouto, but she was determined to show him that she still cared for him. Even if that meant just being acquaintances.

If Naruto didn't see her as a family anymore, she will always see him as one of her precious people. She just wanted him to know that.

Kushina still wanted Naruto to be her son again.

"Naruto! How have you been?"

Naruto looked at Kushina with a bored eyes.

"I've been fine Kushina-san. Now if you'll excuse us we need to see the Hokage."

Nawaki frowned at his oniisan.

"Is that how you talk to our kaa-san!"

Naruto paused on his way to the office and faced Nawaki.

"She is your kaa-san. She's just my creator."

Naruto continued his way to the Hokage office.

* * *

**Hokage Office**

Minato was working on some paperwork in his office. He sighed at the amount they had given him.

He understood why Hiruzen despised the menace so much.

He was distracted by a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

Team 11 had entered the office.

Quickly, the cat was hugged to death by the wife of the Fire Daimyō.

"Oh, I finally have you in my arms again!"

The poor cat was trying to get away from the woman's grip but failed miserably.

She went over to Naruto and gave the boy a quick thank you before leaving the room.

"Good job team."

The team respectfully bowed to the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, I have a request."

Everyone looked towards Yūgao. The Hokage nodded for her to continue speaking.

"I would like to request a C-rank mission for the team."

The Hokage and Iruka gaped at the request. He raised an eyebrow at Yūgao.

"Did you overhear team 12 or something?"

Yūgao gave a questioning look at the Hokage.

"Team 12 was assigned their first C-rank mission to escort Fujikaze Yukie."

The genin gave a deadpanned look at the Hokage. They thought the same thing.

'The Princess Gale actress?'

"Are you sure that your team is ready for their first C-rank mission?"

Yūgao looked at her genin team. She knew that the three were ready for C-ranked missions. Tayaka, Naruto, and Shizuka have a fantastic set of skills and tactics. Nothing should bother her about this decision, but she could help but feel odd about it.

_'It's probably my imagination.'_

"Yes, they are more than ready."

Minato nodded and started looking through the mission in the scroll. The Hokage found a mission for the team. He sent his secretary to bring in the client.

"Your new mission will be to guard a bridge builder."

Their client walked into the office with a small wobble.

"This is the ninja I'm paying to be my bodyguards? A bunch of brats and a woman. I'll admit that she does look like a professional ninja, but the brat looks a bit too young."

Naruto clenched his bokken with his right hand while the other girls clench their fists. They despise being underestimated, especially by a civilian. Naruto decided to speak up since Yugao sent small glares at the man who kept checking her out.

"I can assure you client-san, we are shinobi and we will protect you from anything on your journey."

His teammates nodded in agreement.

The client raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on that. These kids had ninja headbands on for a reason.

"The name is Tazuna. I'm headed to Nami no Kuni to construct a bridge that will change the country forever."

Naruto just nodded to the man. In reality, he hated the client. He was an old drunk who thought that they were older and stronger. He didn't know anything about ninja, so Naruto decided to let it slide for once.

"Tazuna-san we will meet you tomorrow at our scheduled time to guard you on your journey." said Yūgao.

Tazuna nodded and left the office.

"It's our first C-rank mission and we received an old drunk client. I want this to be over already."

Minato sweatdropped at his son's bluntness.

"You are all dismissed, except for Naruto."

Shizuka was going to stay, but Naruto nodded for her to leave.

Minato looked at his son. He's so different from the son he knew from the past. If they spent more time together, they could build a bond. Naruto will be his former self and he will want to be with his family again.

"So Naruto, I was wondering if you'd want to go eat at Ichiraku's and then head to a training ground for some light training?"

Naruto looked at Minato with cold eyes. Those eyes made Minato shiver. They were so full of emotions that he couldn't picture someone like Naruto having so young.

"No Hokage-sama. I don't have time to be with you. I'm too busy bonding with my teammates."

Naruto left the room without waiting for the Hokage to give a reply.

Minato snapped out of it and made a serious expression. On the inside, Minato was hurt, but he couldn't let things like that show. He's a kage and he needs to act like one.

Why is Naruto being so distant?

He tried to spend time with Naruto since his first mission, but the boy doesn't want to spend time with him.

Sighing, the Hokage continued signing paperwork.

This wasn't over yet.

Minato will get Naruto back to the Namikaze family.

* * *

**Kumiko's**

Team 11 were currently eating a BBQ dinner to celebrate their first C-rank mission. As usual, Naruto was stuffing himself like a hungry wolf.

"It's been so long since I've seen Naruto-kun eat."

Momoko was viewing Naruto eat at Yūgao and Tayaka's side of the booth.

"He should slow it down a bit if you ask me. Are you sure you aren't part Akimichi?"

Yūgao, Shizuka, and Momoko chuckled. They loved it when Shizuka goes from kind to savage. Naruto stopped eating and pulled out a wishbone.

"You know this is my favorite food. You don't see me roasting you about your muffin obsession. Now pick an end."

Shizuka complied and grabbed the shorter end of the wishbone.

"Looked like you got yourself a wish."

Shizuka smiled at Naruto.

"I don't think it'll come true."

Naruto looked at Shizuka with a raised eyebrow. Usually, when Shizuka shares a dream, she would do anything to make it come true. Naruto gave her a decent smile, which surprised Yūgao.

"Shizuka, I know you. You'll do anything to make your wishes come true. You're too stubborn and bratty when it comes to it. I have faith that any dream you have will become a reality because you are a fighter. A person who fights for their dream can make it a reality."

Everyone was silent. Yūgao looked intently at Naruto. She had never seen that side of Naruto. Momoko was looking a Naruto with a playful glint in her eyes. Tayaka smirked and hoped they ended up together.

'_I should put up a betting pool.'_

Shizuka lightly blushed and then smacked Naruto on the back of the head for calling her a brat.

"I say something nice and you hit me over the head."

"You called me a brat!"

"Whatever."

Naruto finally lost his appetite and fell asleep in the booth while Momoko started gossiping with the girls.

* * *

**Naruto's Mindscape**

Naruto was on a pirate ship in his mindscape. He had grown used to being on a ship in the middle of the ocean. Walking to the lower deck, Naruto had spotted Zoro fishing and drinking.

He took a seat on the white wooden railing that Zoro sat on.

"It's been a few days since you've come in here and visited me."

Naruto looked at Zoro who was sipping his drink.

"The opportunity just came. The girls started talking to each other about stuff, so I decided to pay a visit. Plus, I always like the view of the ocean."

It was nighttime. Everything was dark, but it seemed clear as day to Naruto. The waves were moving calmly while the water was reflecting the moon.

"I think you're ready for the next lesson."

Naruto quickly turned his head to Zoro. They had been talking about this for weeks. Zoro usually refuses to teach Naruto the next stage until he is older.

"What changed your mind?"

Zoro kept looking at the water below him.

"I remember that when I was growing up, I didn't care about my age. I took every opportunity that came my way," stated Zoro. "I feel you'll need to learn sooner than later. I warn you if you accept the rest of the training, you can't back out."

Naruto didn't know what to say.

"Nii-san."

Naruto did something that surprised Zoro. He hugged him. Zoro didn't know whether to drop him in the ocean or to push him back. In the end, he settled for a pat on the back.

"Don't do that again or I'll cut you. You got that gaki?"

Naruto nodded and continued looking at the moon.

Eventually, Naruto left Zoro after a chat. He needed to get back with his team.

Zoro only had one thought in his head after his departure.

'Goodnight otouto. I promise to make you stronger as soon as the opportunity comes.'

* * *

**Village Gates**

It was the next day and team 11 was seen walking towards the village gates. Yūgao had told them she would already be there when they arrived.

Before they could make it any further, Naruto stopped.

Tayaka looked to her left and stared intently at Naruto.

"Why did you stop?"

Naruto looked at her then at Shizuka.

"If something happens out there, remember to hide what you can. If you need to go all out, then do so without hesitation. We don't know what could happen ou there. Remember, whatever happens, this is our lives. They could go out at any time. Promise me that you will do what you need to do when the time comes."

The girls nodded at him.

The group continued their way to that gate and eventually saw Yūgao waiting patiently with Hayate by her side.

"I told you they would be here early."

Hayate sighed and looked at the team.

"I wish you guys the best of luck today. These C-rank missions are nothing special, but it's way better than those D-ranks."

After saying that, Hayate left.

Two minutes later, the client arrived the gates.

"Alright team, let's go over the game plan."

"Since we're headed out on a bodyguard mission, you believe we should do formation six. Tayaka and Shizuka will flank his sides while I lead in the front. You are the most experienced out of us Yū-sensei. Which means you will be in charge of the rear."

Yūgao liked that she didn't have to tell her genin team twice.

Yūgao didn't say anything, but she smiled and nodded for Naruto to continue.

"Starting now, our C-rank mission will commence."

Everyone agreed and started to head out of the village.

* * *

**Thirty Minutes Later**

The team is walking at its civilian speed. They didn't like that many of their C-rank missions would involve walking at that speed. Tazuna was currently conversing with Yūgao about what he had built so far.

On their way to Nami no Kuni, they spotted a puddle a few feet away from them.

Team 11 was already on alert.

Once they were a few inches away. Two figures burst from the puddle and chanted up Yūgao. Using the chain, they turned Yūgao into shredded pieces of flesh.

The bridge builder looked terrified at the only real person who he trusted out of the group.

"Team formation 33!"

Listening to their other captain, Tayaka stood by Naruto while Shizuka quickly went in front of the bridge builder.

"Tazuna-san, I will be defending you while my teammates finish their opponents."

Naruto took a good look at the opponents and noticed their headbands.

"Looks like we're dealing with two missing-nins. The Demon Brothers of the Mist."

Nodding at Naruto, Tayaka went for the brother with a gauntlet on his left hand while Naruto decided that he should go for the one with a gauntlet on the right hand.

The two brothers detached the chain in their gauntlet and proceeded with their next targets.

Naruto withdrew his bokken and Tayaka started to create handsigns.

* * *

**Tayaka VS Meizu**

Tayaka knew who she was dealing with the instant she laid eyes on them. The team knew that these ninjas were not going to be a challenge, mostly because the brothers would underestimate them.

Tayaka had made a clone when the mist shinobi bound Yūgao with the shuriken like chains. She also knew that her clone would buy her time to find a perfect opening for her genjutsu. Right now, she was hanging back with Yūgao observing the fight.

Soon, Meizu defeated the clone and headed straight towards the bridge builder.

Tayaka grimaced at this but found a perfect opening.

Shizuka was distracting the demon brother while Tazuna was shaking like a leaf. Tayaka quickly went towards Shizuka and took her place in fighting the ninja.

**"Narakumi no Jutsu!"**

The brother suddenly stopped.

"Gōzu!"

* * *

Naruto VS Gōzu

Naruto was dodging many of his opponent's strikes. They were both getting irritated by how long the fight was taking. The demon brother was getting irritated because Naruto was easily dodging his attacks. Naruto was irritated because Tayaka was taking too long to finish.

"Gōzu!"

Gōzu looked at his brother, finding him on his knees while holding his head.

He quickly tried to get to his brother but was hit in the back of the head. His vision became black.

* * *

Naruto tied up the Demon Brother while Tayaka stared intently at Tazuna. Yūgao was throwing a glare at the man.

"It's time you tell us why the Demon Brothers of Mist came and tried to kill you. Yū-sensei and I have already figured out that they were trying to attack their target. What's going on here?"

Tazuna sighed.

He had a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

AN: 3 Important messages

1\. CH 1-9 will be corrected before Shippuden.

2\. New chapters will be posed at random times because of my busy schedule.

3\. I apologize for not updating for not posting new chapters last week. I had to babysit a baby who has too much energy.


	11. Chapter 11

**Warning: This story will contain violent, sexual, and vulgar content. Mentions of rape, abuse, and suicide.**

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 11: Demon Hidden in the Mist

Team 11 was currently on a boat heading to Nami no Kuni. The team was keeping silent because of the sailor.

The team had agreed to take on the mission instead of returning home.

Yūgao was against it first because of the protocol. In these types of situations, they are supposed to return to the village. That was a rule for genin teams.

Then she saw how all three of the genin wanted to continue with the mission. They had refused to leave the bridge builder behind.

Yūgao didn't know if she should be proud of her genin or angered by them. She knew that they did what felt right, but there is a chance of B-ranked ninja working for Gato.

She was no fool. Yūgao knew how wealthy the man is and that he could hire anyone with his money.

For some reason, she agreed with the team moving forward.

"We're approaching the shore."

"Tazuna, we have been very fortunate. No one has noticed us so far."

"Nice going."

Once they arrived, Naruto was happy. Though, he didn't show it outwardly. He liked a change of scenery. All he has known his whole life was the village of Konohagakure. He couldn't wait until he was a Chunin.

Tayaka was excited about a change. She wondered what Kumogakure looks. She imagined a village on top of a cloud. She knew it wasn't possible, but its nice to just imagine a village on a cloud.

Once they left the boat, Tazuna gave them instructions on how to arrive at the bridge.

One their way to the bridge, Tayaka threw a kunai at the bushes. Yūgao went into the bushes and found a dead snow rabbit. She turned back to her team and saw them inch closer to the bridge builder.

_'This rabbit shouldn't have a winter coat. If it has, then it must've been raised inside.'_

A whistling sound was heard. As it drew near, Tayaka yelled, "Get down!"

Every ducked lowley.

Suddenly, a giant sword was found embedded in a tree.

A man appeared standing on top of its handle.

Naruto looked at the man with widened eyed. He has always wanted to meet this man on the battlefield, but he didn't think it would be so soon.

"Momochi Zabuza. A-Rank. Kirigakure. Alias: Demon of the Hidden Mist. Ex-member of the Seven Swordsman. Ex-member of the Kirigakure Assassination Unit. Wanted for the attempt of murder on the Mizukage. He is a suiton user and possesses the blade Kubikiribōchō."

"Oh, so the little genin has heard of me."

Naruto gave Zabuza a smirk while he stood in front of Tazuna.

"Oh, I haven't heard about you, but I have read quite the amount about the Seven Swordsman of the Mist. You are only second best to Hoshigaki Kisame."

Zabuza narrowed his eye at the boy. He didn't like Kisame. After he left the village, he became a monster with that blade.

"Enough talking. I need to exterminate the old man now."

A mist started surrounding them. Yugao and her team were on high alert. Yūgao gave Zabuza a determined look that said, _'I'm not backing down.'_

"Looks like I have to kill you first, Jonin."

Quickly, Zabuza grabbed his blade and stood in water.

"He's preparing for his first move, protect the bridge builder at all costs!" yelled Yūgao.

"Hai!"

Tayaka listened carefully to Zabuza. She wanted to know what jutsu he was planning on using.

**"Kirigakure no Jutsu.(Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu)."**

It was barely audible, but Tayaka heard him.

Zabuza disappeared in the mist. Shizuka looked around for any signs of the mist-nin. Yūgao looked at her three genins who surrounded the client. She knew they should have returned to the village.

The mist began to get thicker.

Yūgao was glad she knew how to handle this situation.

Suddenly, the mist started to feel heavy. The genin knew that Zabuza was letting out his Killer Intent (KI).

Shizuka and Tayaka were sweating a little. If it weren't for the years of training, they would be on their knees. Unlike the girls, Naruto stood his ground. If you felt the KI that was radiating from Zoro, you would have thought it was the end of the world.

_'Naruto. Y__ou won't be able to use your sword against his _

_Kubikiribōchō.'_

His eyes widened at the information. Why wouldn't his swords be able to go against the Kubikiribōchō?

_'Now that I've seen the blade in person, I could see it can do some damage to the swords. I would be little, but it could be enough to make small cracks. You barely got my approval to be thaught my techniques when you return to the village. Don't use the swords."_

Naruto was furious. He wanted to face Zabuza using his swords. Today should have been the day he faced one of the great swordsmen of Kiri. Inside, Naruto knew Zoro was right.

_'Listen to me, Naruto. There will be another day where you can face him. At your current state, you could only scratch him. I'm not underestimating you, but that blade is one you shouldn't underestimate.' _

He listened to his Onii-san. Zoro had a point. He remembers that Zoro told him about when he first met Mihawk. Using one swing of his sword, Mihawk destroyed one of Zoro's swords. He ended up bleeding out. It was a miracle that Zoro survived his encounter with Mihawk. Naruto thought of all the near-death experiences that Zoro had faced.

In his opinion, Zoro is a reckless bastard.

He did things that even Naruto felt was the stupidest thing in the world.

Yet somehow, he ended up becoming a legend in his time.

_'Jutsu is my only option, isn't it?'_

He could feel Zoro nod in his head.

The mist became so dense that their sensei disappeared from their sight.

"Eight points. Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian, artery, kidneys, heart. Now which one will be my kill point?"

Yūgao suddenly appeared in front of her genin again. She was able to lift some of the mist, but not entirely.

"I'm not going to let any harm come to any of you."

The genin looked at one another. Naruto nodded at the girls.

"Sensei, he's behind us!"

Zabuza appeared behind the genin and was about to kill the bridge builder. That is until Yūgao appeared in front of him with her tantō and jabbed into his stomach.

Despite this, Yūgao didn't keep her guard down.

The man started to chuckle.

"You didn't lower your guard."

Yūgao frowned as Zabuza turned into water.

"Water clone."

"Behind you!"

Hearing Tayaka's warning, she turned to find Zabuza. He kicked her in the air. She was able to flip and avoided landing into the water. She was about to create a clone when she was suddenly trapped in a sphere of water.

**"Suiro no Jutsu (Water Prison Jutsu)."**

Yūgao tried to break free, but she knew it was futile.

"I underestimated you, Zabuza."

Yūgao turned to her team. The team she started to see as family.

"Go! Run! Zabuza is too strong for you guys. His water clones won't get far if you all run now!"

"No."

Yūgao's eyes widened. Did Naruto just tell her no?

"We aren't leaving you behind. "

Shizuka and Tayaka looked at Naruto. They knew what that meant.

"It's time."

"Hai!"

"Shizuka, keep guard of the bridge builder. Tayaka, you're with me."

"Hai!"

Shizuka moved in front of the bridge builder with a kunai in her hand. Tayaka moved to Naruto's side. She put away her kunai and looked directly at Zabuza.

Zabuza looked at the genin. He thought they were foolish for thinking they could take him on. They should run while they still could. He knew of the women he had in his jutsu. Uzuki Yūgao. She is wanted in their bingo book. He expected the jonin to be more of a challenge.

These genins are different from what he knew about the Konoha genin. He knew about the graduation exams in their village. They should be cowering in fear from his KI. Instead, they stood their guard and are attempting to attack him with no hesitation. They should have already committed suicide.

What's up with these gakis?

"No run! The mission isn't to save me! Its to protect the bridge builder!"

Naruto looked at Tayaka. It was time to show their sensei what they are capable of doing.

Quickly, Tayaka performing a set of hand signs.

Yūgao's eyes widened a bit at seeing the signs she was performing.

**"Doton: Bunshin no Jutsu (Earth Style: Clone Jutsu)."**

Seven clones appeared around Tayaka.

Naruto started preforming his hand signs.

Zabuza recognized those signs.

"Shit!"

**"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu! (Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu)**

A stream of water started heading towards the real Zabuza. The water clone was about to block the attack, but the Doton clones threw kunai with exploding tags at the Zabuza clone. The clone was hit with both attacks.

Zabuza though Naruto couldn't continue the jutsu considering it took a large amount of chakra.

He was sorely mistaken when the jutsu continued in his direction.

Zabuza had no choice but to release Yūgao.

Yūgao quickly got into her feet. She stares at her genin.

How could they know those jutsu?

Zabuza growled at the two genins. The boy didn't look phased by the amount of chakra the jutsu should have taken. A genin to use a jutsu like that should have drained them dry or worse.

Does he have a kekkei genkai?

"You really shouldn't underestimate your opponent. You thought we would use low-grade jutsus, but we have been training in the ninja arts for a while. I bet you thought we were just a bunch of genin playing ninja. We know your reputation Zabuza. You are regarded as a demon for killing your whole class in the academy. The same people you trained with to become a shinobi. A graduate of the Bloody Mist."

Zabuza grunted at Naruto's declaration.

"My teammates wouldn't have taken a D-rank mission if we didn't know the risks. They may be small, but you never know."

Before Zabuza could attack Naruto, Yūgao rushed Zabuza with her katana. Zabuza was able to block her in time, but he felt a painful slash on his back.

"Aghh."

He knew it was a long and deep cut, but it was life-threatening.

**"Futon: -"**

Before Naruto could say anything, Yūgao impaled Zabuza with three kunai.

**"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu)."**

A massive amount of water is shot towards Zabuza. Naruto helped Shizuka carry the bride builder to a safe and distant part of the forest. Tayaka followed behind. They were still hit with the water, but Zabuza was greatly affected by it.

When the jutsu dispelled, Zabuza had his back against a tree. He was breathing heavily.

The team got down from the trees. Shizuka and Naruto help Tazuna get off the tree. Tazuna thought he was gonna die because of that jutsu.

Yūgao appeared in the tree above Zabuza. She had her tantō in hand.

"This will be your last battle Zabuza-san."

She was about to use what appeared to be a futon jutsu on Zabuza, but couldn't because Zabuza was impaled by three senbons.

"You're right about this being his last battle."

Shizuka narrowed her eyes at the masked girl in the tree next to their position. Tayaka said she sensed the girl in the trees before the battle with Zabuza.

Yūgao appeared by Zabuza's side and check for his pulse, but found none. She looked over at the hunter-nin. She bowed her head.

"Thank you. I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time waiting for this chance to finally take him down."

"You're a hunter-nin."

"You are well informed for a genin."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the figure.

The girl appeared beside Zabuza and started to lift the body.

"His body has so many secrets that an enemy should know. I will deal with this man's remains. Arigato."

Before she disappeared, Shizuka decided to speak.

"Isn't it protocol for a hunter-nin to deal with the body on the spot? In Kiri, you have to decapitate the head."

The masked girl looked directly at Shizuka for a minute and then disappeared.

"Shit, he's still alive. Those senbons can be used to create a false state of death."stated Shizuka.

"We'll deal with him when the time comes. For now, let's take the bridge builder to his home. Zabuza won't be moving for a while. Naruto. Shizuka."

Naruto and Shizuka stood at attention.

"Hai!"

"Catch me."

Yūgao collapsed.

The two genins were quick to catch their sensei.

"Yū-sensei used too much of her chakra on her speed and the jutsu. She'll need to rest for two days to get her strength back."

Naruto and Shizuka nodded at Takaya.

"Let's go while the sun is still up. I don't have the patience to deal with Gato's thugs."

They left for Tazuna's house in a hurry.

The sooner their sensei is rested, the sooner they can tell Yūgao the truth. It was time to tell her everything.

* * *

**Unknown Location**

"Some Jonin. You call yourself a demon when you couldn't even destroy a group of low-class genin?"

Haku scowled at the voice of Gato.

When they got back, Haku has to check on Zabuza's whole body. The damage on Zabuza's back was worst than they both expected. The weapon used was covered in poison. It wasn't enough to kill him, but it was enough to paralyze him.

That's what had been bothering Haku.

That slash appeared out of nowhere.

Zabuza wouldn't be on his feet in a week. He would have been ready to fight in three days, but the slash prevented that.

Gato walked towards Zabuza. He was going to slap his face.

"Haha. Don't make me laugh. You are pathetic-"

Before Gato could finish that sentence, Haku grabbed his arm.

"Haku, let him go."

Gato's guards were on high alert. They went to attack Haku, but they were easily dispatched.

"You got one more change. If you don't kill the bridge builder, you can kiss the money goodbye."

Gato left with his guards trailing behind.

"You know, you didn't need to step in."

Haku gave Zabuza a genuine smile.

"We need to keep calm. After this job, we won't need to go anywhere else. We can go back to Kiri and end the war."

He wouldn't admit it, but Haku was right.

Suddenly, chuckling was heard.

"I see that kunai did its job."

Haku was ready for the enemy. She had ice needles ready to go for the kill. Zabuza was unable to move, but he sill had a kunai ready for anything.

"Easy, I just wanted to talk."

Naruto steped our from the darkest side of the room.

"How did you get past the guards."

Naruto chuckled at Haku.

"These guards are academy dropouts from Kumo, Kiri and Suna. Do you honestly believe that I wouldn't know how to get around them?"

Zabuza could only glare at Naruto. That boy is an enigma. He's done things that keep surprising him. Zabuza did not doubt that the boy will be a splendid ninja.

"What do you want?"

Naruto looked directly at Zabuza.

"I want to know why you bother working for someone who plans on double-crossing you."

Haku made a shocked face while Zabuza glared daggers at the boy.

"What makes you believe that Gato will double-cross us?"

Naruto chuckled. It sent a small shiver into their spines.

"If I get you the proof, will you stop working for Gato?"

Zabuza was quiet for a little. He knew what would happen if he left this job.

"If he double-crosses me, I'll kill him at the bridge."

Naruto shook his head at Zabuza.

"We will weaken you before he gets there. He could have his thugs finish you before you can have the energy to end them."

Zabuza sighed and tried to rubbed the back of his head.

"I have a deal for you."

"What is it."

"If I give you the evidence he will double-cross you and pay double the money he owes you, will you help me in killing everyone under his thumb?"

Zabuza scoffed.

"Where are you going to get the money?"

Naruto gave him the evilest smirk he could make. He laughed a little.

"Where else? From the safe that contains all of his money." Naruto stated, "Nami will get a portion of their money and will be able to pay for the mission my team went on. Not only that, but Konoha will get a trade alliance with Nami no Kuni once they are back on their feet."

Haku frowned, "What about Gato?"

If it were possible, Naruto made a sinister and dark expression. He was letting out a massive amount of KI.

"Oh, I have plans for that bastard."

"I'll help if you have proof of him double-crossing me."

"Excellent!" Naruto said, "I'll come back in two or three days."

Before the blond boy left, Haku decided to speak.

"What's your name?"

The blond boy turned his heads slightly.

"Roronoa Naruto."

Naruto left in a shunshin.

* * *

AN: I sorry for the late updates. I've been working overtime because of everything happening with COVID.

Why wasn't Naruto able to fight Zabuza?


	12. Chapter 12

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 12: Growing Bonds

**Tazuna's House **

Naruto was sitting on the roof, looking at the moon. He was thinking about what he saw today and his talk with Zoro.

Zabuza is a very skilled opponent. From what he read, Zabuza is the first opponent he was to face in his list.

How was he going to face him in their next confrontation?

He knew he shouldn't, but Naruto hated himself. He hated himself for not progressing the way he wished.

With all the training and lessons he had taken from Zoro, Naruto still had so much to learn. Today proved it. Zoro had told Naruto that he was already doing better than Zoro when he was his age.

Then there was Yū-sensei. She was someone he grown attached to easily. He didn't want to admit it, but Yūgao has become family to him. He noticed how she tried to bond with them. Naruto felt that she is his Onee-san and Hayate is his nii-san. He didn't want to get attached to them because they are very loyal shinobi to the village. One order from the Hokage and they would turn on them.

Now, the fight happened and Yūgao is suspicious.

He didn't want to reveal anything to Yūgao. He should have left her as she ordered, but something inside of him told him to save her.

Could he already be attached?

_'You got a visitor.'_

Naruto turned his head and saw Shizuka.

"What are you doing out here?"

Naruto sighed.

"I'm looking at the moon."

Shizuka shook her head. Naruto only looks at the moon when he's upset or lonely.

"What's wrong this time."

"I'm worried about what happens when we tell her."

Shizuka sat net to Naruto while hugging her legs.

"I'm not that worried. Sensei let us go on the mission knowing it could turn into an A-rank. According to Konoha, she was supposed to return us to our village. I think she is becoming more trusting of us. Don't you think she deserves to know after everything we've been through?"

Naruto thought about everything they've done together. They have become close. Naruto didn't like it, but it happened. They became so close that Yūgao officially became part of their gamble nights. We had to keep it discreet because of the legendary sucker. Naruto chuckled when he thought about the time Tusande came into our house demanding to play. We hid everything before she walked in the door. Yūgao is good at lying.

"I'll give our sensei one chance, but first I need to know if she'll report us to the Hokage."

Shizuka couldn't argue with him about that. She knows Yūgao was loyal to Konoha. It was her duty to report to her Kage about everything that happened on the mission. She wasn't worried about that. The main reason is that Yūgao has already proven herself to her.

"Why is it always you that keeps me out of these thoughts?"

Shizuka shrugged and looked directly into his eyes. Those purple eyes that had been so comforting to her.

"I don't know."

She hugged Naruto and went back inside. Naruto decided to say and watch the moon for a little more time.

* * *

**The Next Day**

Yūgao woke up, determined to talk with her genin team.

She knew she didn't dream of Naruto using a B-rank jutsu.

She tried to stand but was weak.

_'Maybe their all having breakfast.'_

Just when that thought crossed her mind, the door opened and revealed a woman who looked to be in her late twenties. She was carrying a tray full of food.

"Oh! I see you finally awoken Shinobi-san."

Yugao nodded at her.

"Hi, My name is Yūgao. I apologize for anything my genins has done so far."

The woman smiled at Yugao.

"I'm Tsunami. Thank you for keeping my grandfather safe. Don't worry about your genin. They have behaved well. Though I do question the dynamic of the team."

Yūgao couldn't help but sweatdrop.

The team had always had a strange dynamic. Naruto insults Tayaka either intentionally or unintentionally. After that, Tayaka tries to murder Naruto while he defends himself using his bokken. They usually stop after a while. Shizuka would hit them over the head while scolding them if they continued.

"Yes, I know its a strange sight." stated Yūgao, "Where are my team?"

She smiled at her.

"They are waiting for me to let them see you. Since your arrival, the kids had someone by your side. This morning I found Tayaka-chan drooling at your bedside. They care about you."

Yūgao laughed at that. Tayaka was adorable to her. She really couldn't imagine Tayaka drooling. She then smiled to herself. She knew the genin didn't have to watch over her.

"I'll tell them to come in now. Rest up. I'll bring your lunch up when its time."

Tsunami left the room.

Not a second later, her three genins came back in their room with a look of relief.

"Yū-sensei!"

Yūgao laughed and asked Tsunami to give them some privacy.

"So, I assume you know why I asked for some privacy?"

Naruto nodded and sat in between Shizuka and Tayaka.

"I think its time we had a long-overdue talk sensei."

Shizuka and Tayaka followed Naruto's actions.

Yūgao looked at Naruto. Since she encountered the team, she knew Naruto was the leader of the three.

"I think we should answer your questions first."

"Where did you learn your jutsus?"

Tayaka had a pained expression on her face.

"We learned our jutsus from Shusui."

Yūgao was surprised that Shisui had taken the three as his students. She knew that he was a prodigy before his death. He was said to have been a spectacular Uchiha. He wasn't apart of the main family and he surpassed Itachi.

"Do you know how he died?"

"We aren't here to answer those questions, sensei."

Yūgao nodded despite how much she wanted to know.

"How much have you suppressed your true abilities?"

Shizuka decided to answer this question.

"We have been suppressing our abilities since the academy."

Yūgao looked directly at Naruto.

"Why?"

Naruto knew this was Yūgao's biggest questions. The one he had been insecure about telling her.

"To put it simply, we have goals we want to accomplish."

Naruto sighed and rubbed his neck.

"It's because of village laws that we have to keep some of our abilities a secret."

Yūgao needed time to process what the blond had said to her. Village laws. It always came down to that with this group of genin.

The Hokage always does what he believed was right. Yūgao thought Minato was a great Kage.

"Elaborate."

Naruto was quiet for a while. It seemed to her that he was struggling to tell her. Shizuka put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Naruto took a breathe and made a serious face.

"It has to due with what we specialties."

Tayaka stood and looked at Yūgao with attitude.

"You know, I'm tired of keeping you in the dark. Sensei, you earned my trust a long time ago. I think I can trust you with this."

Naruto and Shizuka quickly stood up and looked at Tayaka.

She started unwrapping her headband from her eyes. Naruto took out a paper and stuck it to the room door. It was a silencing jutsu he learned from the Namikaze library.

Tayaka had her headband in her left hand. She opened her eyes and revealed her beautiful brown eyes to Yūgao.

In Yūgao's opinion, Tayaka was gorgeous. Her beautiful ebony eyes intensified her beauty. Though she didn't see why the girl had hidden her eyes, they looked normal. As if Tayaka had read her sensei mind, she quickly explained.

"You don't see it because I haven't activated them."

Yūgao was shocked at the reveal. She never expected Tayaka's eyes to be-

"Now that you have seen my eyes, you must know that Naruto and Shizuka are the only two who know about them. When I started the academy, it was only one eye. When we became a genin, I was able to activate the other. I still don't know a lot about my eyes, but I'm still learning."

Yūgao was about to make a suggestion, but Tayaka raised her hand.

"No, I will not seek help from _them. _I believe you know the reason why I didn't go in the first place."

Yūgao nodded. She's sure that Tayaka will be like the rest if she asked them for help.

"Why are they that color?"

Tayaka responded by giving her a shrug.

"I don't know."

Shizuka decided it was her turn to tell Yū-sensei about her specialty. She bowed her head to her sensei.

"Yū-sensei, I must ask you to not be alarmed with the information I have for you."

Yūgao nodded at Shizuka. She had a feeling that by the end of their talk, she was going to have a massive headache.

Shizuka reached into her pockets and pulled out three vials.

The first one was a dark black color. It had a green label on it. The other one had a green tint with a white label attached. The final vial was a purple color with a black label attached to it.

"These vials contain poisons that I have been working with for the past several years."

Yūgao couldn't help but feel happy that her assumption was right. Shizuka's specialty is poison. After the thought had left her head, Yūgao started to feel another emotion. She knew what Shizuka was doing was technically frowned upon in the village. Hell, she couldn't blame them. Orochimaru became known for his experiments and poisons in the shinobi world.

He wasn't S-ranked for nothing. Orochimaru was a dangerous man with abilities that rivaled Minato. Minato and Orochimaru were rivals for the position of Yondaime Hokage. When Orochimaru left the village, everyone was fearful.

Shizuka using poison makes her worry.

Then Yūgao had a thought in her head.

"Have you experimented on yourself?"

Shizuka raised her eyebrows at her.

She understood her sensei's concern. Orochimaru had experimented on himself and others. Though that's not why she raised her eyebrows. Yūgao was a loyal ninja of the village. She had the impression that Yūgao just wanted to be her sensei because of the Mizuki incident. Afterward, she would enter them in the chunin exam and be done with them. Most senseis have that mindset, especially ANBU.

Yū-sensei didn't sound like that at all. Her sensei sounded caring about her. Not just for her well being.

"No, I don't experiment on myself. I don't plan to experiment on myself at all. If I ever do, I will inform you or my teammates."

Yūgao nodded and looked at the vials.

"What do they do?"

Shizuka smiled.

"Well, the green one is a knockout type of poison. It was used on you in our genin exam on the training grounds."

Yūgao's eyes became the size of dinner plates. She remembers the moment she felt a pain on her side. Tayaka had become invisible and cut her with a kunai.

_'So that how they knocked me out for so long!"_

"The purple one is a bit different. Instead of knocking out an opponent, it paralyzes them. The black one is the most lethal one of them all. Instead of immobilizing them, it causes a burning sensation to course through a person's body. I call it the 'Hell Hole'."

Yūgao would have had her jaw drop, but using her ANBU training, she reframed from showing any reaction. Shizuka defiantly has a terrible bit. Especially with the Hell Hole poison.

From what Shizuka had shown, the poisons aren't bad.

She turned to Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

It's time for Naruto's show and tells.

He sighed and raised the sword that held Zoro, but didn't dare pull it out from its sheath. Yūgao noticed Naruto had a loving expression when he held his sword.

"Since I was young, I have always found a pull toward swords. I didn't know it yet, but they eventually became a missing apart of me. They are the only things I came to love and care about besides Shizuka and Tayaka."

He then grabbed it with two hands and admired its sheath.

"The swords that I carry aren't like the ones in our shinobi world. Nor are they like the seven in Kiri. These swords are old and powerful. I still don't know much about them, but I know one thing."

Naruto put the sword back at his side.

"The swords that I have are cursed."

Naruto looked directly at Yugao.

"That's why I don't use the swords on my allies, especially on my family." Naruto stated," I only used these on opponents and enemies."

Yūgao couldn't believe what Naruto told her. Naruto has four cursed swords.

"How did you find the swords?"

"I found them in training ground 44."

Yūgao doubted that he found it in Anko's forest. She claimed to have searched the place from everywhere. That included the most dangerous part of the forest. She will accept his answer for now.

She looked at her genin. They have opened up to her. She knew how hesitant they all were about revealing this to her. Naruto had cursed swords, Shizuka was practicing with poison, and Tayaka had eyes that can endanger her future.

She tried getting up but remembered she couldn't move.

Naruto saw her try to sit up and decided to ask her a question that had been on their minds.

"Are you going to tell Hokage-sama?"

Yūgao had to pause at the question. She knew she should report to the Hokage about her new finding on her genin. It was an order, but Yūgao couldn't tell him. She just got her genin to confide in her. Reporting to him can cause a dent in the team's trust.

"No, I won't tell the Hokage."

The genin beamed at her answer.

"There is something I want all of you to promise me."

When she saw that all the genin gave her their attention, she continued.

"First, you will be honest with both me and Hayate. Second, I want you all to confide more in me. As your sensei, my job is to teach and guide you into becoming a great shinobi. That means if you have any questions or require some advise, you will come to me. From now on, I want to see when you are at with training in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and kenjutsu. I will help modify or add to your arsenal. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Yū-sensei!"

"Good, your all dismissed."

Everyone left the room except a nervous-looking Shizuka.

"Yes?"

Shizuka shuffled her feet on the ground and started looking everywhere except her sensei. Yūgao had to admit, Shizuka was so cute when she was like this.

_'Kawaii.'_

"I forgot to inform you that because of your injuries, I had to paralyze you so we can fix your wounds. You probably don't know this, but Zabuza managed to cut you in battle. I wasn't too deep but started bleeding out. You'll be able to move in five hours. Have fun!"

Shizuka left the room in a hurry.

Yūgao groaned. She had nothing to do.

* * *

**5 Hours Later**

Yūgao was finally able to move. Tayaka accompanied her while she was paralyzed for five hours.

When she walked int the living room, she saw naruto sitting on the dining table using one of his weights. Shizuka was next to him reading a book. She looked closer at Shizuka and saw her glancing at Naruto. Yūgao had to suppress her smirk. She knew all about Naruto's reputation as the bad lone wolf, he gained the attention of many girls.

Yūgao noticed how Shizuka would lightly glare at any girl that stared at naruto for too long. Even if Naruto was popular, Nawaki and Sasuke were the two that many girls swooned over.

_'I bet my next paycheck they will be a couple.'_

"Sensei, we need to talk." Naruto had explained to Yūgao Shizuka's 'theory' about Zabuza and the Hunter-nin. He told her about how the hunter-nin was working for Zabuza. Zabuza was still alive, but he wouldn't be moving until the end of the week.

"Alright. I will be training each of you. Someone will be guarding the bridge builder when he leaves. The rest of you will be with me to see if there is any need for improvement."

"Hai, Yū-sensei."

"For now, let's go train."

The genin followed their sensei into the forest. Yūgao took out a scroll and opened it to reveal shurikens, kunai, and a spare tanto. She then pulled out chakra paper.

"Who doesn't know their chakra nature?"

Nobody said anything which made her sigh.

"Okay, I want Naruto to step forward and pick up that tantō. Tayaka and Shizuka, I want both of you to spar each other.

Naruto picked up the tanto while Shizuka and Tayaka went to the far side of the clearing and started to spar.

Yūgao drew out her tanto from her back.

"I told you that I don't use my swords against allies and friends."

Yūgao smirked at Naruto.

"I know. That's why I gave you my tantō. Technically speaking, you're not using your sword." Yūgao said while getting into her stance.

Naruto smirked right back at her. He had told Hayate what he told Yūgao. Unlike Hayate, Yūgao found a loophole. He was glad that Yūgao became his sensei instead of Kakashi. He heard that Kaka was the same as many jonin instructors who didn't want a genin team. He still wonders why Kakashi excepted to receive a team this year.

_'Probably because of the elders of the village. They would do anything for the heir of the soon to be an extinct clan. Especially for someone who is the rightful clan heir.'_

Naruto got into his stance and readied himself for his real battle with his sensei.

"I'm ready for you, Yū-sensei."

Yūgao nodded. She didn't move a muscle.

"Get ready, sensei."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Naruto quickly moved in on Yūgao.

Yūgao couldn't even blink before Naruto attacked her. Naruto almost struck her on the ribs. Naruto slid on the ground and tried to slash her on the back. She frowned at the move. Naruto was already going in for the kill. She did a front flip and slid backward.

"How are you so fast?"

Naruto smirked at her. Yūgao never saw Naruto look so vicious.

"I have been training in with swords since I was small. I learned that the best way to train is by increasing my stamina and weights."

Naruto was about to attack Yūgao when a sword appeared on his throat.

"This isn't your style."

Yūgao appeared in front of him. She knew after the first attack that Naruto wasn't using his original style. It showed by the way he moved his wrists and the way he swayed. It didn't appear correct. Since Naruto has claimed to have trained for a while, she expects him to have a sword style of some kind.

"I do have a style, but it's very complicated."

Yūgao put her sword down and look at Naruto with interest. Did he create one?

"How about you show me the style in the village. For now, I'm going to teach you one of Hayate's style."

Naruto nodded and started training with Yūgao.

They all trained with Yūgao until dinner.

Her team was more skilled than she thought. They weren't holding back anymore. Yūgao discovered that Naruto is a high jonin in taijutsu. She hasn't seen someone that high since Itachi.

Tayaka was very skilled in ninjutsu. She decided to teach her more fire jutsus that could help in future battles. She also started to improve her taijutsu.

For Shizuka, she needed more help in ninjutsu. Since she has suiton and futon elements, she decided to give her two katon and raiton jutsus. She had to be around her until she was proficient in the jutus. She also decided to help her train with her sais. She was lucky that Yūgao had some knowledge of using the weapon. Yūgao wasn't an expert, but in the ninja world, knowing a little could help in the future.

When they started their meals, Naruto couldn't help but notice the frowning little boy who barely touched his food. Naruto believed his name was Inari.

When Shizuka started talking about their home in the village, Inari snapped at slammed his chopsticks on the table.

"Inari!"

"Why do you continue to train?! Gato has a whole army of men. "

Naruto was hiding a smirk as he looked at the boy with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"These cool things you say, they don't mean anything." yelled Inari, "No matter what you do the strong always win and the weak always lose."

Tayaka was annoyed by the boy.

"So what if he has an army. We are shinobi."

Inari glared at Tayaka with tears in his eyes.

"Shut up. Do you think you can just come here without knowing anything about the country? You're just butting in. You're just smiling and laughing, but you don't know anything about pain!"

The temperature in the room dropped. Yūgao was on high alert. She looked at her team and was shock at what she saw. Tayaka was seething at the little boy with a kunai in hand. Shizuka had a very hurt expression on her face. She tried to look calm but failed. Naruto stood abruptly. He looked directly at a frightened Inari who had a pee stain on his shorts. Naruto was about to walk out of the room but turned his head to the boy.

"You should think before you speak."

Naruto left the house and headed into the forest.

Tayaka turned to look at Inari.

"I think I need to step outside."

Tayaka left for the backyard.

Shizuka had collected herself and stared at Inari in pity.

"Inari, you aren't the only person in this world who had experienced pain. We all had our fair share."

Inari looked at Shizuka with a scared expression.

"What do you mean?"

Shizuka sighed and took a seat.

"I won't tell you everything because it's their story, but I will tell you why they reacted like that." Shizuka waited for Inari to take his seat before proceeding.

"When Tayaka was growing up, she became an outcast of her clan. Her father had rejected her as a family member and had mistreated her since birth. It was only her brother who loved her. Tayaka became hated and beaten by her clan after his death." stated Shizuka, "Naruto is the oldest child in his family. When he grew up, he became neglected and forgotten by his family because of certain things. Naruto grew up without any love and care. That was until he met us. That's all I can tell you."

Shizuka stood up and looked at Yūgao.

"I think it's best to make sure Inari stays away from Tayaka. Naruto will be back tomorrow morning. He just needs to be by himself. Don't be surprised if he stays out all night."

Inari was still processing everything that was said to him. He didn't know how things are for the team. He decided to apologize to them tomorrow. Tazuna and Tsunami stayed shocked. How can their families treat them like that?

Yūgao put her head down. She doesn't know their stories. She wished she knew more, but that was for them to tell her. She didn't know that Naruto was neglected by his family. That does explain why he moved out but is there more to the story?

She decided to go to sleep and hope that tomorrow would be a better day.


	13. Chapter 13

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 13: Slaughter

Naruto was coming back from his visit to Zabuza's house. Inari provided the perfect opportunity to sneak out without having Yūgao trail him. Knowing her, she let him stay out until morning.

Naruto was in a great mood.

Why?

He managed to convince Zabuza to join him in killing every one of Gato's employees. Not only will Zabuza and Haku will help him, but his team will finally have their first kills.

He knew how dark that sounded, but his team wouldn't let him do this alone. Naruto knew he would kill those men after he accompanied Tsunami into town for groceries. What he saw was sickening. It even made Zoro angry.

They saw some of Gato's thugs kidnapping girls if they couldn't pay them money. He saw kids begging in the street for money. He also saw some people living in the streets.

What made his blood boil is what Shizuka had discovered after searching the town.

She followed the men who carried women to another hideout. What she discovered made him see red. All the women and children were being sold as prostitutes and slaves.

Shizuka saw men having their way with girls no older than nine. She found the girl who withered on the ground crying for her mother after being gang banged. Shizuka looked so broken when she told them what she witnessed there. Naruto had to hold back a scream. Yūgao was still asleep at the time.

Team 11 was going to kill them all.

Tayaka agreed to help free everyone in those hideouts. They kept muttering about how they are going to cut off their extra limbs. Naruto didn't mind, but he did shiver at their comments. In general, Naruto was glad he wasn't like any of those evil men. There was a moment that Naruto had to cover his crotch in fear.

_'Women can be scary demons.'_

Naruto was heading back to the house with a scroll in his backpack. The scroll is for the girls. It was a map to all the hideouts Gato processes. It will come in handy for tonight's slaughter.

Naruto couldn't wait until tonight. Zabuza was pretty angry when Naruto showed him all the evidence. He can still remember the violent reaction Zabuza displayed.

**Flashback**

"RRRAHHHH!"

Zabuza was staring at the man Naruto had on his knees.

He had found that scrawny man was one of Gato's right-handed men. When Naruto cut off his arm, he sang like a bird. Naruto also threw in a file that had plans for selling Zabuza's corpse to Kiri for money.

Zabuza was beyond angry. He grabbed the man by the neck and lifted him from the ground. He was sobbing and pleading for mercy.

"I'm sorry Zabuza-sama, please forgive me!"

Zabuza was going to strangle him until Naruto threw a kunai at the man's head. The man's body went limp. His death meant nothing to Naruto. He chose him as a witness because of his position as Gato's right-hand man and because he killed and raped a kid. He was scum.

"Now, I assume you are going to join me in killing every one of Gato's men?"

Zabuza looked at Naruto in annoyance.

"A deal's a deal."

Naruto uncrossed his arms and gave Zabuza a scroll.

"Inside is the details of my team's plan. You and I will deal with every thug in here while the girls save everyone who has been imprisoned in the other bases."

Zabuza raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"Only us? Gaki, I don't think you can help me in killing all these men. You'll probably end up dead in the process."

Naruto chuckled.

"I'm no ordinary genin, Zabuza. Not even our jonin sensei knows what we're capable of doing."

Zabuza was skeptical of this plan. He decided that if Naruto ends up dead, he'll just grab Haku and leave.

Zabuza slammed his fist into the wall behind him. He was still going to kill Gato.

**Flashback End**

Naruto made it to Tazuna's house before sunrise.

When he entered the house, he noticed Shizuka leaning against the wall.

"I was getting worried."

Naruto gave her a rare smile.

"Everything went well. Haku will be accompanying you girls to the hideouts. Zabuza and I will be able to handle the thugs in his layer."

He handed her the scroll and went into the kitchen.

Naruto started making breakfast with Shizuka.

"I told them about how the Namikazes neglected you. I didn't tell them any more than that."

He understood why she told them. If she didn't reveal a little bit of their pain, Yūgao would have brought them back to the house or gone after them.

"Where's Tayaka?"

Shizuka smirked at Naruto. She knew how strict he was about mission timings.

"She sleeping in again. Tayaka came an hour late. Her excuse was the funny part."

"I don't wanna hear it."

When it came to Tayaka, she was a lier like Kaka. It didn't help that her personality screamed Anko and Kiba.

"We leave at midnight, correct?"

Naruto nodded. Yūgao was fully asleep at midnight. He couldn't tell her about their plans with Zabuza. Yūgao was almost like family to them. Her knowledge of everything will make things difficult. That's why they didn't tell Yugao the whole truth when confronted.

Naruto told her the swords are cusred but didn't tell her about Zoro, Shizuka didn't tell her about her poison jutsus and her experimental poisons, and Tayaka didn't tell her about the discoveries she made with her eyes.

Yūgao became the overprotective big sister of the team. She wouldn't just let them kill thugs with Zabuza. Plus, Zabuza was a missing-nin hired to kill Tazuna. She'd be crazy to let three genins go against an army of thugs and failed academy students.

"Something smells wonderful!"

Everyone came into the kitchen when the smell of breakfast hit their noses.

"I decided to cook after rudely leaving the dinner table last night."

He received a big motherly hug from Tsunami.

"Arigato Naruto-kun."

Naruto just patted her on the back.

If he turned around, he'd find a surprised looking Shizuka.

_'Did she just call him Naruto-kun?'_

Shizuka started to develop those strange feeling again.

Ever since she turned 13, Shizuka started to feel strange. When she saw girls staring or talking to Naruto, she felt anger. There was also the fact that she desired to kill them for even looking at Naruto. It was strange.

Unknown to her, she was glaring daggers at the women for hugging Naruto. It made Tzauna pale and Inari scared. Tayaka was desperately trying to hold back her laughter.

Yūgao was extremely amused.

"I believe that's enough hugging." said Shizuka with a dark tone.

Tsunami let go of Naruto but looked at Shizuka with interest. She then took a good look at her face and smiled. She knows that look.

_'Oh, is someone jealous?'_

Everyone ate breakfast. The team went with Tazuna to bridge. When the day ended, everyone went back to his house.

Yūgao had trained them until late at night.

After dinner, everyone headed to their room to get some sleep.

As time passed, the team finally was able to leave the house.

It was time for Gato's demise.

* * *

**Gato's Main Hideout**

Zabuza was waiting for Naruto to appear in his room. Haku had already left for his meeting place with gaki's teammates.

"Are you ready for the slaughter?"

Zabuza withdrew his weapon and stood in front of Naruto. He chuckled as he let out all his KI. He sounded so dark.

"Let kill these double-crossers."

Zabuza exited the room with Naruto right behind him.

"Don't be surprised about what you're about to see."

Zabuza grunted in response to Naruto. He didn't care as long as he got the money.

* * *

**10 Minutes Later**

Gato was having the time of his life.

He had two pretty ladies on his sides. Sure they were crying, but that didn't matter when it came to him.

"Aghhh!"

He jerked up at the sounds of screaming.

"AHHH!"

Gato quickly stood up as two of his guards burst into his room.

"What's happening!"

"Sir, everyone is being killed off in a mist."

Gato raised an eyebrow at that. A mist?

"What do you mean a mist? We're inside!"

The guard looked a Gato with fear. Its something he hated.

"Sir, the mist is coming from inside." stated a guard, "There are dead people in the hallways. They looked like they've been killed by a giant sword."

Gato paled at the mention of a giant sword. There was only one man who owned one in this hideout.

In his head, Gato was seething.

Zabuza discovered about the double-cross. He didn't think that the demon would find out about the double-cross until he assassinated the bridge builder. Then, his thugs would kill Zabuza and send him to Kiri for the reward money. He also planned on selling Haku to his gay business partner.

Now he has to either face Zabuza or escape and hire someone to kill the fucker.

"Alright men, let's get the fuck outta here."

As Gato was walking away, he heard the chains in his bed.

He turned around and saw the two girls he was going to use this morning. They were both holding each other.

"Sir, what do we do with the girls?"

"Leave them here. I can always get others."He scoffed.

Gato turned around and left with his thugs.

* * *

Naruto was having the time of his life.

Zabuza was by his side, killing three of Gato's thugs with his blade. Naruto had just decapitated a thug that tried to use an academy jutsu. His body got on its knees as blood sprayed from its wound.

Naruto saw two strong men headed his way in the hallway. One had an old sword while the other had what appeared to be a spear.

Using his speed, Naruto did a downward slash on the man with a spear using both of his swords. The man cried out as he crashed to the floor in pain. Naruto then turned around and faced the man with a rusty sword. The man tried to impaled him only for his sword to break. Naruto grabbed the man by the neck and seethed at him.

"Your blade is trash! Do you think you can harm me with that rusty blade? My sword cut through it like butter." Naruto stated as his hold became much harder on the man's throat.

He used his kunai and stabbed the man in the eye.

Naruto had no remorse for men he saw as evil. He didn't feel pity for them. Especially if they believe he could die by a rusty blade.

Zabuza kept killing groups of men with his blade.

He would glance a the gaki to see how he was doing. He was shocked at the number of people we would kill. He beat Zabuza by two. In all his years, Zabuza has never seen a gaki kill so many without a hint of remorse. Naruto was savagely cutting off the limbs of his victims. He almost looked like a demon.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Zabuza quickly used his Kubikiribōchō to cut five men in half.

"FUCK!"

One of them was able to dodge the attack but ended up losing an arm.

They stopped when they couldn't find anybody else to kill.

Naruto turned to Zabuza.

"Its time to find Gato."

Zabuza nodded and left to search the right side of the hideout. Naruto decided to go left. Before the attack started, Naruto made sure to close off any possible exit so nobody could escape.

He was startled by a noise coming from his right. Naruto quickly made his way to the noise and found Gato and a couple of his guards trying to open a door.

"Come on! Hurry up before that bastard shows up here."

Before he could utter another word, I cut the legs off of the man trying to open the door. He fell onto the ground crying in agony.

"My legs!"

I saw Gato sizing me up. He must have expected Zabuza to kill him.

"Guards attack him!"

The last remaining five went to kill Naruto. Since he was only 13, they must have thought he could easily be killed.

The five suddenly stooped and quivered in fear.

"Looks like you found us."

Zabuza walked by Naruto's side and peered at the five remaining targets. In one motion, all of the men had their stomachs cut open.

Gato ended up throwing up on the ground.

"Please let me go! I'll give you anything! Money, power, girls!"

Naruto had a calm demeanor.

"Show us where you keep all of your money, then we'll let you go."

Gato nodded and took them back to his room.

Naruto was sickened when he caught the sight of the crying girls. They could look to be around his age.

Gato took them into his office and showed him the safe. The door of the safe was attached to the wall. It was twice as tall as Zabuza.

"There! Now let me leave."

Before Gato could leave, Naruto held a kunai on his neck.

"Open it."

Gato seethed and opened the safe. If one of them were to open the safe, it would've alerted the others about his capture,

When Gato opened the safe, Naruto ordered him to walk inside. Gato didn't move.

"Why aren't you moving?"

"Because of the trap."

Naruto ordered Gato to disable them all. Gato did so while mumbling insults. He will get his revenge.

After disabling the alarms, Gato grabbed money from his safe and handed it to Naruto.

"There! I help you. Now, let me go."

Before Gato could make a move to leave, Naruto knocked him out with the blunt end of his kunai.

"Never trust a ninja."

Naruto motioned Zabuza to follow him into the safe. Their eyes bulged out of their sockets when they saw what's inside.

Gato was an extremely wealthy man. He didn't just have money in his safe. No, he had items people would kill to have in their possession.

There was a wall that contained scrolls from Kiri and Kumo. Zabuza walked towards the wall and spotted something of his interest.

Naruto started to have a tingling feeling in his stomach. Something was tugging him to the scrolls.

_'Naruto?'_

He ignored Zoro. If there was something Naruto learned from him, it was to follow your instincts. If he responded to Zoro, he was sure he would lose that tug.

Naruto looked around the wall of scrolls. He found a small section filled with Suna scrolls.

Zoro was worried about Naruto. Naruto never ignores him. He couldn't feel anything inside his body. Everything appeared normal, so why is he acting this way?

Naruto found that the pull was coming from two scrolls on the wall. One of them was a dark blue scroll. It had a strange symbol on it.

The other scroll was a map.

He wanted to open them, but he decided against it. He would open them when he returned to Konoha. He took all the scrolls that belong to Suna. He was hoping that some of them contained futon jutsu. The team was lacking jutsus on that nature. He wondered if one of the Kumo scrolls contained anything on ration jutsu. Nobody on the team had a ration affinity, but learning one wasn't impossible. Maybe he'd ask Yūgao for help.

Naruto turned to Zabuza after securing some of the scrolls.

"Remember the deal."

Zabuza nodded.

He would honor the deal with the gaki. He usually would have betrayed him, but the boy had saved him. The boy has given him enough money to help Mei in the war against Yagura. Maybe this would be enough to have her forgive him for abandoning her. He would never tell the gaki, but he was in debt to him.

"I wonder how the girls are doing."

* * *

**Unknown Location In Kami no Knui**

"Please have mercy on us!"

Five men were shaking in the corner of a moonlit room. They looked towards the dark part of the room in fright.

"Why should we let you leave after what we witnessed?"

There was a dark aura around the room. It made the men quiver in their shoes.

They didn't know how they were in this situation.

They were having the time of their lives. This morning, Gato had visited them and praised them for the work they've done. Gato had given them the day off to unwind. He gave them access to the girls in the facility and all the sake they desired.

It was the best night they had in months. They made girls dance for them when they got drunk of their asses. Many of them wanted to be alone, but they didn't permit them to leave. Eventually, they ran out of drinks, so they had the recruit fetch them some more.

After a while, the team started to sober up.

They noticed there was no noise from outside their room.

The leader decided to check on the man they sent to get drinks. The other waited patiently for their leader to return. The men were startled when their captain returned.

He was a bloody mess. The leader had his back facing them.

"Is everything okay?"

The leader then collapsed on the floor. A kunai was buried into his stomach.

"Run."

The men were startled at their leader's words.

"I'm getting outta here!"

The men quickly left there room that contained all of their women.

When they reached the main room of their base, they paled. All the men in the room were dead. Most of their comrades had a body part missing. What caught their attention was the two most perverted men had their scared limb removed. They immediately recognized that one of those men was the new guy they sent for refreshments.

"We gotta get outta here!"

One of our men ran for the exit. Before he could escape, a kunai impaled the side of his head where his ear was located.

The last five men were startled by the brutality of the deadly blow.

"Quick, let's get to the safe house!"

The men ran in the direction of the safe house in the backyard. They made it into a shed where they kept the new slaves. Before they could move to the hidden door, the sound of footsteps caught their attention.

Now, this is were in this situation.

"If you leave us alone, we'll get you all the money from Gato's vault!"

They heard the chuckling of a girl.

"We don't care about the money."

They heard the footsteps get closer. They were only able to see the legs of the girl.

"You know, we were mad about what you guys have done to those women and kids inside that building, but then we saw what happens to the ones that end up dying." The girl seethed," We saw the bodies were either thrown in the waters of Nami no Kuni or used as food for you mentally unstable mutts. I never thought I'd hate dogs in my life."

The men cried out when something cold was thrown in their kneecaps. They collapsed in the ground.

"Now, let's see what the best group of kidnappers look dead on the floor."

"NO! PLEASE!"

While the girls started to kill the men, Haku looked on in utter fear. He knew the girls were angry after seeing what those men did to the women, but he didn't think they were viciously killer them. He witnessed Shizuka cut off a man's treasured jewels.

He didn't know what to think of the girls. When they first met, Haku liked them. They weren't cold and uncaring like Zabuza. That all changed after they saw one of the men playing with a dying girl's body. Haku thought he would piss his pants after seeing their faces. He could have sworn he saw the shinigami behind them.

Haku was more than angry with the men too, but he wasn't a violent person. He didn't enjoy killing people. He thought the girls were the same, but then Tayaka told him that they had no remorse for bastard men.

Haku had killed a good amount of them, but he didn't viciously murder them.

He briefly wondered if they knew he was a boy.

* * *

**A few Hours Later**

The people of Nami no Kuni were startled awake by the sound of women and children. They quickly went outside to find the love ones who were taken by Gato.

After a quick reunion, they told everyone to meet at the bridge.

At first, the people were hesitant, but they eventually left for the bridge. What they found shocked them all into silence. There, tied up and beaten to a pulp, was the person they despised the most.

Next to him was team 11.

"People of Nami no Kuni, we have brought you the man known as Gato and freed all of the prisoners from his clutches."

The people of Nami no Kuni were overcome with happiness. Finally, they have been are free from the tyrant.

"In exchange for helping you from this tyrant, I wish to make a deal with everyone."

The people of Nami pay close attention to Naruto.

"In exchange for liberating you from this man and returning money to Nami no Kuni, I would like you to not only pay for my team's A-rank mission but to have an alliance with Konohagakure."

The people whispered around. They didn't know if they should accept the offer.

"If you agree, we will also execute Gato right now."

To emphasize Naruto's point, Zabuza put his Kubikiribōchō under Gato's neck.

The people of Nami were about to respond when a voice interrupted them.

"So, you captured Gato."

"Of course we did, Tazuna."

The bridge builder and Inari looked at the direction of Gato.

"Is there anything else you want from us?"

Naruto walked up to the bridge builder until they were only inches apart.

"I also want two minor things." Naruto spoke, "First, I want nobody to celebrate about Gato's death until we leave. Our sensei can't know what we have done."

Tazuna nodded at that. He didn't understand whyYūgao shouldn't know, but he didn't care.

"What else?"

"The last thing I want is to be able to return and visit Nami no Kuni."

Tazuna smiled at Naruto.

"I think we can expect that."

They shook hands while the people of Nami cheered for their heroes.

"Now, I think its time for Gato's death. Zabuza."

Zabuza smiled darkly at Gato.

"Karma is a bitch."

He raised his blade high in the sky while Tayaka removed his gag.

"Please! We had a deal! DON'T KILL ME!"

Zabuza lowered his head and whispered in Gato's ear, "Don't worry, I'll see you in Hell."

He quickly lowered his Kubikiribōchō above Gato's head and decapitated the man. The last thing Gato heard was the people cheering his death.

* * *

**An Hour Later**

Yūgao woke with a startle.

She had another nightmare about her team.

Ever since they had opened up to her, Yūgao had dreams about the genin team. Some of them were good. Naruto was ANBU captain and the godson of her child. Shizuka was working at the hospital testing new poisons and cures, and Tayzaka was head of the IT division in Konoha.

Her other nightmare was that Naruto killed the Namikazes, Shizuka became the next Orochimaru and Tayaka had died because of problems with her eyes.

Yūgao shouldn't dream of such a thing.

Did she dream this because of fear?

No.

They are going to be splendid shinobi.

"I told you to be quiet!"

Yūgao sighed and looked at the door. Her genin must be coming back from their morning training.

"You three better not be fighting."

Yūgao heard her genin hurry to their room. She couldn't help laughing at the sounds of Naruto and Tayaka muttering insults to each other.

She quickly started to prepare for the day.

* * *

For the last few days, team 11 had been protecting the bridge builder. Yūgao was confused because when the bridge builder finished, there was no sign of Zabuza.

Everyone was much happier in the village. Yūgao saw people were smiling and greeting them. Then she found out that Gato had died a few days ago. Yūgao was also confused by the fact that no thugs were spotted. She was sure that if Gato died, they would have taken over the village.

When everything finished, the people of Nami no Kuni when to see the team off.

"Thank you all for everything you have done for our people."

Tazuna and the rest of the villagers bowed before them.Yūgao returned the bow.

"No need to thank us. We are just doing our job as shinobi."

Tazuna shook hands with all the members of the team.

They turned around and left for Konohagakure. Before they could make it off the bridge, Inari caught up to them.

"Wait!"

The team turned back and looked at Inari.

"Yeah?"

Inari looked into Naruto's eyes and asked, "Do you guys have a name?"

Naruto looked surprised by the boy's question. Their name?

"Do you guys have a name? You know, a team name?"

Yūgao smiled at the boy.

"It's tea-"

"Team Yū", responded Tayaka.

Yūgao looked at her team in shock. She didn't think the team would name themselves. Naruto nodded and gave Yūgao a million-watt smile that warmed her heart. Shizuka came up to her and looked Inari in the eyes.

"We are team 11 from Konohagakure. We are also known as team Yūgao because of our sensei, but when we became an official team, we became team Yū."

Inari looked up at each one of their faces. He hoped to see the team again.

"Thank you."

Inari ran back to his family and watched the team leave for Konoha.

Unknown to the team, that name will be known across the shinobi world.


	14. Chapter 14

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 14: New Opportunities

Team Yū was in the Hokage office.

After they returned to Konoha, team 12 returned two minutes later. It was Kushina's idea to walk to the Hokage's office together.

If there was a word to describe the atmosphere, it was awkward.

Kushina tied to say hi to talk to Yūgao, but for some strange reason, she kept avoiding her. Naruto was busy counting to 100 because his ex-siblings kept staring at him. He hated being around them, but he can tolerate them. Kami, he hates when people stare at him. He felt like the most interesting phenomenon since the invention of paper.

Shizuka and Tayaka were feeling two emotions at the moment. One of them was anger. They didn't like it when team 12 stared at Naruto. They also felt nervous for some strange reason. They found that Kushina sometimes glanced at them. It was putting them on edge.

Minato was looking between Kushina and Yūgao. He was still processing everything he heard from them. A few moments passed until he got up from his seat.

"Let me get this straight." He said while looking at both women," You both went against protocol and continued your missions despite becoming an A-rank mission."

Yūgao started to sweat a bit.

"I expect this from Kushina, but Yūgao? You know the protocol. You both should have returned."

Yūgao bowed her head to the Hokage and apologized for her actions.

Minato sighed and looked at Yugao.

"I'll let you both off with a warning. You are both lucky harm has been done to any of the genin teams. As punishment for continuing the mission despite the protocol, you are all under a three-day break. When three days are up, you will be assigned back to regular missions."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!"

"You are all dismissed."

Naruto quickly left the office. He was surprised the Hokage didn't keep him in the office this time.

He went home with his two best friends while Yūgao went to see if Hayate was in the village.

The Naikaze kids left the office to head home for a shower.

Kushina looked at her husband, shocked. She also noticed that Minato hadn't asked for Naruto to stay behind. Minato usually never gave up. It was a trait that she loved.

"What's going on?"

Minato wanted to tell his wife, but she needed to wait until the meeting with the other jonin instructors.

"I will tell you tomorrow at the meeting. Please go home and rest. You had a long mission. Here take this and tell the kids to meet me at Ichiraku's tonight."

Minato handed Kushina enough money to feed any army. Kushina raised an eyebrow at her husband. He only would spend this money on celebrations. Was there something happening?

When Kushina left, Minato sighed and continued looking where his wife left.

"You can't sneak up on me that easily sensei."

He heard a laugh and turned around to see the man he admired since his academy days.

"I see you still got it, my student."

Minato turned around and shook the man's hand.

"Its good to see you again, Jiraiya sensei."

* * *

**Roronoa Household**

Naruto decided to sleep in his room for a few minutes. He told his friends not to disturb him unless it's urgent.

He needed to talk with Zoro.

He couldn't fight Zabuza because his swords would be damage in battle, so how the hell is he supposed to fight him in the future?

If he can't fight Zabuza, how's he supposed to fight Kisame?

He took a long deep breath and sank into unconsciousness.

Naruto opened his eyes and found himself in a dojo of some kind. The dojo was plain. He looked out the window and saw a natural grass field.

He found Zoro in an empty room inside the dojo. He was sitting crossed-legged on the floor.

"Take a seat."

Naruto obeyed Zoro and sat on the floor.

Zoro sighed. It was times like these he wished he could go his crew on the other side.

"That sword that Zabuza held in his hands. It felt like the swords from my time."

Naruto's eyes widened at the information. He didn't know much about the swords of Zoro's time, but he knew that they were either impeccable or terrible.

"A descendant from my time must have created the swords of Kiri. These swords aren't like the regular swords from my time. They are more advanced."

Zoro has never seen a sword like the Kubikiribocho. He made Naruto read more about them. He was shocked when he read the Samehada was a living sword. He knew that Naruto must start the other part of the training now. If he wishes to become the best, Naruto needs to begin training in everything. Zoro wished they had more time to enjoy being around his youth, but Naruto won't be able to defeat the Kiri swordsmen if he kept babying him.

"Naruto. Before we do anything, I need to know a few things."

Naruto nodded and waited for Zoro to ask.

"How far are you willing to go for the title 'World's Best Swordsman'?" asked Zoro with narrowed eyes.

Naruto's fists tightened at the question.

"You know exactly how far I'm willing to go to be the world's greatest swordsman!" Naruto yelled. "I am destined to become the greatest. I'm not the best now, but I strives to become better. Until I claim that title, I promise you I will never fall!"

Zoro stared wide-eyed at Naruto. Zoro remembered his promise to Luffy. When Luffy became king, Zoro became the best swordsman. He kept his promise to Luffy about not losing again. When he faced Mihawk, he knew he was ready to accept and defend the title. When Zoro died, he became known as Greatest Swordsman in New Era. Everyone was so proud that nobody was able to defeat him, even in old age.

His crew was happy with everything that they accomplished in their time.

Now, its Naruto's turn to become the greatest.

Zoro looked at Naruto with a fire in his eyes. If this is what Naruto wants, then he will make the blonde better than he was in the new world.

"There is a way to fight is Kubikiribocho, but I need you to know about Haki and Meito. Then, you will be training in the cave. Every day you will be training with me unless you are going a mission. You ill have no breaks. I'll be pushing you to the point where you suffer exhaustion. I don't care that you 13 years old. I will treat you like a man!"

Naruto bowed his head to the point his forehead touched the wooden floor.

"Please train me, sensei!"

Zoro smirked.

This will be entertaining.

* * *

**Village Streets**

Yūgao had a spectacular day with Hayate.

They had spent the day getting gifts for her team. It was his idea to get them all a gift because of the upcoming chunin exams. They both knew that all three of them were going to be in the finals.

Hayate had to leave for a meeting with the Hokage, so he had to leave early. Before he left, Hayate told her about a girls' night that Anko invited her to attend.

She was hesitant at first, but she decided to join her friend for a drink. Being the sensei of team 11 had put her under so much stress. A night together wouldn't hurt.

Yūgao went inside a bar near the redlight district of Konoha. When she entered, she saw Anko sitting in the back. She smiled when she saw Hana sitting next to the women.

"I knew you'd make it!"

Yugao laughed Anko for such an outburst.

"I just needed a drink. Drinking with friends is always better than drinking alone, plus Kakashi isn't here."

Hana smiled at Yūgao. Usually, Yugao never joined them because Kakashi always ruined her mood. It was Anko's idea to make it a girls' night so she could join the fun.

"Are we waiting on Kurenai?"

Anko shook her head.

"She decided to join Kakashi and Asuma to another bar."

Yugao scowled a bit.

Hana was always confused about why Yūgao would get mad about Kurenai. She never asked, but its been like this for years.

"Am I missing something here?"

Yūgao smiled at Hana. She might be the youngest of all of them, but she was the peacekeeper of the group. Maybe she deserved to know.

"Let me have a few doses of Sake, then I'll tell you all about it."

After a few drinks, Yūgao decided to share her story.

**Flasgback**

Yūgao graduated from the academy.

"Team 11 will be Sarutobi Asuma, Yūhi Kurenai, and Uzuki Yūgao."

Yūgao was smiling at the fact she teamed up with her best friend. Ever since she was little, Kurenai and Yūgao were inseparable. She was laughing a little because Kurenai had a small crush on Ausma. The teasing she will cause the girl.

"Kuri-chan! Are you finally gonna make a move?"

Kurenai used her hands to try to cover up Yūgao's mouth. Then an idea popped into her head.

"What about you? Aren't you sad that Gekkō-san won't be in your team?"

Yūgao instantly paled. How did she know?

Kurenai laughed at her, causing Yūgao to try and fight her.

**1 Year Later**

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

Yūgao looked at her sensei dead in the eyes.

"Yes, Kushina-sensei. I know you you'll have me replaced. I recommend Raido."

Kushina was sad to see her student go. Yūgao was an excellent member of the team. The woman knows that this will affect Kurenai, but this was Yūgao's decision.

Yūgao bowed to her sensei for the last time and left for her home. She walked down the streets of Konoha with her hand in her pocket.

She was then tackled to the ground by a crying Kurenai.

"You liar!"

Yūgao eyes widened the size of dinner plates. How did she know already?

"Kurenai, I'm sorry, but I'm leaving. I can't miss this opportunity!"

She straddled her hips and looked into her eyes. Her best friend was leaving her. Ever since Yūgao won the chunin exams, the fire daimyo invited the girl to join the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

Yūgao had promised her she wouldn't leave her side. At first, she as happy that Yūgao was accepted. She would come back the strongest out of the three. Then she found out that Yūgao was planning to leave and become an ANBU when she returned.

Kurenai didn't believe it until she saw Yūgao ask about the ANBU team. She knew it was Yūgao's dream to become one of the Hokage's bodyguards, but she didn't have to dream so selfishly.

"I'm going and making my dreams a reality. I want to be the best ANBU leader since Kakashi. Kurenai, you want to be the best genjutsu user in the village. Real friends support each other, Kuri-chan. I will always support and root for you. Why can't you do the same with me?"

I hurt Yūgao that her friend didn't want her to take the next step towards her dream.

"What about Gekkō-san?"

"He's supporting me and pushing me towards my dreams. He wants me to be happy, Kurenai."

She narrowed her eyes at Yūgao.

"So, your not happy on the team!"

Yūgao's eyes widened at that. Of course, she was happy with them!

"That's not what I meant!"

Kurenai stood up and backed away from Yūgao.

"It's over."

Kurenai left running to Asuma.

**Flashback End**

"After that day, Kurenai and I weren't as close as before. We still talk to each other and sometimes share a laugh, but we still hurt. Kurenai doesn't see me as trustworthy. I don't see her as a friend, just a work acquaintance. Sometimes, when we bring up the past, it makes us fight. We've grown past our differences and began our life without depending on each other. I admit, I sometimes miss the old days, but I would make the same decision I made that day."

Hana was silent. She always thought Anko was Kurenai's best friend. They were so close to each other. Now that she thinks about it, she's never seen Kurenai and Yūgao talk with each other unless their fighting or drinking.

"Anyways, we turned out fine. Kurenai achieved her dream of becoming the best genjutsu user in Konoha. She also became known for her excellence in tracking and recon."stated Yūgao."I became a leader in ANBU and was promoted to be the Hokage's guard."

Anko decided to put her two cents.

"You also became the only woman to sleep with Gekkō."

Yūgao chocked on her drink, not expecting the comment.

Hana and Yūgao laughed their asses off.

None of them were aware of the woman sitting with a bearded jonin cross the room.

* * *

**Village Streets**

Nawaki was currently running from an angry Sakura.

After faking that Sakura was his girlfriend, Konohamaru was beaten. He made fun of Sakura's forehead, causing them to run for their lives.

Konohamaru ended up bumping into someone in the process.

The person looked like a fat cat.

"Yeah?"

Komohamaru didn't say anything to the cat boy. The boy was annoyed and lifted Komohamaru by the front of his shirt.

"That hurt, little punk!"

The girl behind him looked at the cat boy.

"Stop it. You'll get yelled at later!"

The cat boy was going to continue when a pebble hit his hand at a high rate. He held his hand as Konohamaru fell to the ground. The cat boy looked up in the trees to see a boy with raven hair.

"What do you think you're doing in someone else's village."said Sasuke with Sai by his side.

The cat boy growled.

_'Some else that ticked me off.'_

"Get lost." said Sasuke.

The cat boy and Sasuke were about to fight, but a voice interrupted them.

"Kankuro, stop that."

A boy with red hair and a gourd was standing upside in the same tree as Sasuke.

"You are an embarrassment to our village."

_'I didn't even know he was there. Its jonin like Kakashi that can do that.' _Sasuke deduced.

_'This boy must be watched.' _thought Sai.

"H-hey, Garra. It...it wasn't our fault. I-I'm sorr-"

"Shut up."

Garra turned his head away from Kankuro and looked at Sasuke and Sai.

"I apologize for any trouble he caused."

The team started to leave until Sakura stopped them.

"Why are you in the village. You need permission to enter the village."

Tamari showed them their permission slip.

"These are our passes for the chunin exams this year."

"The chunin exams is a test to see if a genin deserves the title of chunin."

Sasuke looked at Sakura. Shouldn't she know about this more than Sai?

He looked back at the red hair sand-nin with narrowed eyes. The boy's eyes held a bit of evil. Sasuke knew he should be wary of the boy. Unknown to him, Garra was thinking the same.

The sand-nin started to walk away until Sasuke decided to asked aa question.

"What's your name?"

The blonde girl thought he was talking to her, but saw his gaze landed on Garra.

"My name is Garra of the Desert. I'm also curious about you?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Garra nodded and motioned for his teammates to follow him.

Unaware to them, two groups were watching the entire interaction.

One was a team from Otogakure. The other was team Yū from Konohagakure.

"What do you think?" asked Tayaka.

"I think that we should avoid the one known as Garra. I think that Sasuke and Sai would make good entertainment."

Shizuka nodded in agreement.

"We should also keep an eye on the sound team."

Naruto and Tayaka agreed with Shizuka. The aura around the sound-nin was off. They already deduced that the leader of the team was the boy with the gauntlet.

"Let's go. I wanted to get new weights for my body. I already maxed out the old ones."

Tayaka rolled her eyes.

"I'll join if you let me pass by the veterinarian office. I need to bring in Zuna for a check-up."

Shizuka looked at with an amused expression. She knew the real reason she wanted to see the vet.

Naruto nodded and left the tree they were occupying. He was excited because this provided the chance for him to test his strength against the other.

_'This might be our only opportunity.'_

* * *

**Hokage Office**

Minato was in his office, patiently waiting for the jonin senseis arrival. The meeting will commence shortly.

A knock on the door interrupted him from his paperwork.

"Hokage-sama, the jonin sensei's of the genin teams have arrived."

Minato nodded and ordered her to bring them in.

The room was full of jonin senseis. Minato notices the excitement of Gai. Maybe he already knew what this meeting would be about considering that genin teams from outside the village are starting to arrive.

"I gathered you all here today because this year, Konoha will be hosting the chunin exams."

Minato saw that nobody said anything, so he continued.

"This year will be different from all the other years. This year, Konohagakure, Otogakure, Kusagakure, Taigakure, Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure will be attending the chunin exams."

Some of the jonin's eyes widened the size of dinner plates.

Kushina had her jaw on the floor.

"Before you ask, Two days ago, Kirigakure officially ended their war. The rebels won and have appointed a new Kage."

Some of the Jonin smiles at the news. Hopefully, this new Kage won't cause them trouble.

"Kumo will be joining us as a sign of peace this year."

Kushina looked about ready to fight until Minato held his hand up.

"We know of their previous actions, Kushina, but that was the time of the Sandaime Raikage. A hasn't done anything to show he means harm to Konoha. The Raikage and Mizukage will be under close watch by our top ANBU."

Kushina still held a grudge for Kumo after the attempt to kidnapped her as a child. She was scared that Kumo will try again and capture her kids. She will need to keep a close eye on Naruto.

"Now, back to the matter at hand." Minato said, "Let start with those in charge of the rookie genin, step forward."

All six squad leaders stepped forward.

"Gemna, Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, Yūgao, Kushina. What do you say? Are your teams ready for the exams?"

Gemna was the first to speak.

"The Genma-led squad 6. Fukui Ryu, Ami, Terasaki Shoma. I, Shiranui Genma, recommend these three for the Chunin Exams."

"The Kakashi-led squad 7. Uchiha Sasuke, Sai, Haruno Sakura. I, Hatake Kakashi, recommend these three for the Chunin Exams."

"The Kurenai-led squad 8. Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino. These three, I, Yuhi Kurenai, recommend the same."

"The Asuma-led squad 10. Yamanaka Ino, Shikamaru Nara, Akimichi Choji. These three, I, Sarutobi Asuma, recommend the same."

"The Yūgao-led squad 11. Uchiha Tayaka, Shizuka, Roronoa Naruto. I, Uzuki Yugao, recommend these three for the same."

"The Kushina-led squad 12. Uzumaki-Namikaze Nawaki, Uzumaki-Namikaze Mina, Uzumaki-Namikaze Mito. These three, I, Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina, recommend for the Chunin Exams."

Yūgao and Kurenai were thinking about how wordy Kushina's recommendation sounded.

Every jonin in the room was in disbelief.

Jonins started to murmur amongst themselves.

"Wait a minute!"

"No, Iruka."

Iruka looked shocked at his Kage.

"Don't think I know you were going to object. You need to remember that these aren't your students anymore. I know how much you care for these kids, but you don't know their strength. Their senseis have recommended them for a reason."

Iruka stayed quiet and tried to process every he heard Minato say. He didn't know anything. He didn't even know what team 11 was capable of doing.

Iruka nodded to the Hokage.

Minato spent the rest of the meeting finding the sensei that wanted to recommend their genin teams.

* * *

**TG 11**

Naruto was meditating on the training ground of team 11.

Shizuka and Tayaka are training in the backyard of their house, so Naruto thought it was best to meditate here.

He knew he wasn't alone.

For the past few minutes, Zoro had sensed that someone was watching them.

He was annoyed that someone was spying on him. He had planned to head over to the cave after meditation, but he couldn't go. Naruto couldn't risk someone knowing about it.

Tired of waiting, he decided it was time to confront the intruder.

"I know you're there. Come out."

He heard a rustling from the bushes and opened his eyes. He saw someone he didn't want to see.

"Nawaki."

Naruto closed his eyes and tried to meditate his irritation away.

"Naruto-nii."

"What do you want?"

Nawaki was hesitant, but he didn't back down.

"I want you to come home."

Naruto snapped his eyes open. He didn't expect Nawaki to want him back home after everything.

"Why? I thought you didn't want someone as weak as me to be a Namikaze."

Nawaki flinched at the words. He admits that he grew up arrogant and obnoxious. He was a Hyuga reincarnated, but Hinata brought the good of out of him.

It was thanks to her that Nawaki became himself again. No longer was he the bastard. He was the boy who made everyone happy, the one who keeps his word.

"No. That was the stupid side of me."

"You're still an idiot." Naruto commented.

"Naruto, I'm sorry for breaking our promise!"

Naruto snapped his eyes open. He didn't think the boy would remember such a thing. Yes, Naruto was mad at Nawaki for breaking their promise, but it was never the main reason.

"You are an idiot. That not the main reason."

"Then what is it!"

Naruto shook his head. Nawaki will never understand the full reason. Maybe when he was older, but Naruto knew it would be too late. Nawaki was a person who caused him a lot of pain. Not as much as Minato and Kushina, but he was up there.

"You'll have to figure it out."

Nawaki couldn't take it anymore.

"Let's make a deal."

Naruto looks directly into Nawaki's eyes. Naruto didn't want to make the deal, but Nawaki was annoying him.

"I'm listening."

"In the exams, if I beat you in a fight, you tell me what I did wrong and come back home."

Naruto's eyes hardened. Was Nawaki this desperate to have him back?

"If you lose, you will never ask me to be a Namikaze again.

Nawaki's eyes widened in horror. Naruto didn't want to come back home. That hurt Nawaki more than anything he ever felt.

_'Why, Naruto?'_

"Deal."

Finally, an opportunity has shown itself to Naruto. If Nawaki loses, he'll have no choice but to keep his word. If he doesn't, Naruto still wins. He will show Nawaki that his words meant nothing to him. That Nawaki was a liar. Nawaki always said that he kept his promises. Naruto will prove him wrong.

The only one who ever kept their word was Mina.

* * *

**The Next Day**

Yūgao was at the training ground, waiting for her genin to arrive. Naruto was the first one here because he ended up sleeping after meditation. Now, she's waiting for the others to arrive.

"I won that fight!"

"Tayaka-chan, we both know that's bullshit."

"We'll settle this later!"

Yūgao laughed as the girls started approaching them.

They reminded her of the time Kurenai would challenge her to a fight. She always ended up the sore loser.

Yūgao watched as Tayaka threw a rock at Naruto. That had been her favorite way to wake him.

"The hell was that for ya baka!"

One thing many people didn't know about Naruto was his anger. Usually, Naruto was calm and collected, but when he's angry, Naruto tends to make over-reactive facial expressions.

Before they started their fighting, Shizuka grabbed them both by the ear.

"I believe Yū-sensei would like to start."

Yūgao nodded to the girl.

"I recommended you three for the Chunin Exams."

The teams smiled at their sensei. They knew their sensei wanted them to participate.

"Alight, go to room 301 of the Academy at 3:00 P.M. five days from now. Here are your forms."

Yūgao handed them each a slip of paper.

"I'm rooting for you. Your all dismissed."

Yūgao left to talk with Hana.

Naruto smirked and looked at his teammates.

"Looks like we get to be apart of the fun."


	15. Chapter 15

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 15: The Chunin Exams

**Roronoa Household**

Naruto woke up to his door being bang.

He knew the exams are today, but he didn't want to leave his bed. Zoro wanted to stay in bed more, but he knew Naruto should wake up.

_'Naruto. Do you not want to miss the exams. I thought you had a dream to make a reality.'_

Naruto hated Zoro sometimes.

"Alright, I'm getting up. Don't break my door down!"

Naruto finally got off of the bed. He went to his closet and started getting dressed for the exams. Unlike Nawaki, who wears a set of sleeping pajamas, Naruto wears boxers to sleep.

He made sure to grab all of his four swords. In truth, he was a bit nervous about the exams. Zoro had barley anytime to teach him anything new because of the nuances that happened the past few days.

He departed his room and descended the stairs.

What he saw shocked him.

"Naruto. You need to wake up early to get a good start on the day."

In the kitchen stood Yūgao and Hayate with a load of take-out food.

"Is this all for us?"

Hayate nodded and set everything on the table.

"Morning, you three. Yūgao and I thought it would be a good idea to bring you guys some breakfast."

Hayate started opening the boxes and setting up the table.

Naruto was shocked that they brought breakfast. Usually, it was Shizuka or him who buys food for them. Since Yūgao and Hayate barley ate with them, Shizuka thought it was nice to pay for their meals in Kumiko's.

Everyone sat down and ate the breakfast Yūgao and Hayate brought.

"Okay, you all should get going. I heard the exams are going to have more difficult proctors than usual."

The team wanted to ask more, but they decided against it because they needed to leave.

Saying goodbye to their senseis, the team started to head to the academy.

* * *

**The Academy**

When they arrived at the academy, they found genin teams waiting for entry to a room labeled 301.

"They're trying to trick us. This is obviously a genjutsu." said Shizuka.

Naruto nodded at Shizuka's statement. It was an obvious genjutsu. Naruto motioned the girls to follow him up the stairs. When they arrived, they noticed the KI that some teams were using. It didn't cause them any problems, so they sat in the farthest corner of the room.

The next team that arrived had interested him.

It was a genin squad from Kumo.

They each had swords on their back. The person who interested him the most was the male of the team. He was sucking on a lollipop and had a precautious aura around him. Was he a paranoid person?

Naruto was dragged out of his thoughts when he heard the annoying sounds of Ino. He turned his head to the entrance of the room. He grunted in annoyance. Mito was hugging Sasuke from behind while Sakura was fighting with her. Then all of the rookie 12 came together and started talking loudly.

_'Can they just be quiet?'_

He saw a guy with glasses walk over to them.

"You guys should keep it down."

Finally, someone made them understand.

It took the teams a while to understand that all the genin in the room were staring at them. They made themselves a target by just talking. Seeing loud rookies participating in the exams is bound to make someone's blood boil.

He heard how the silver hair boy named Kabuto offered them information.

"Any people you'd like information on?"

The genin looked around each other.

"I want to know about Rock Lee and Garra of the Desert." stated Sasuke.

"I want to know about Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuga Neji and Sai." said Shikamaru.

"And I want to know about Shizuka, Uchiha Tayaka, and Roronoa Naruto."

Every one of the rookie's eyes widened at Nawaki's statement. Team 11 was in the exams?

They looked at Nawaki and saw his gaze was on the corner of the classroom. Following his gaze, they saw team 11 glaring at Nawaki.

Naruto was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Tayaka was on his right. She looked irritated and was glaring daggers at Nawaki. She wanted to be invisible, but the boy ruined it. Tayaka had her arms behind her head. On the other side of Naruto was Shizuka. She was cleaning a kunai she had in her hands. Shizuka wanted to hear what Kabuto was saying about them.

"Oh! You know their names already. That makes it easier for me."

Kabuto had pulled out two cars and poured his chakra in them.

"First up is Rock Lee." said Kabuto, "He's a Konohagakure shinobi who is one year older than you. He has completed 20 D-Rank and 11 C-Rank missions. His sensei is Gai. His teammates consist of Hyuga Neji and Tenten. Lee graduated the lowest in his class in the academy. He has developed his taijutsu radically in over 12 months."

"Next, Garra of the Desert."

Kabuto placed the card down.

"He has completed 8 C-Rank, 1-B-Rank. He's a rookie from Suna. He has survived the single mission without a scratch on him. Not much is known about his abilities. His sensei is also unknown."

Naruto frowned and spotted the red-headed Suna-nin. The more he hears about him, the more curious he became.

Kabuto pulled out three cards.

"Now, Hyuga Neji. He has completed the same amount of missions as Rock Lee. His sensei is Gai. Unlike Lee, who graduated as the dead last of his class, Neji was the rookie of the year. Neji is said to be a genius in his clan. He is superb with his use of the byakugan."

"Uchiha Sasuke. He has a total of 20 D-Rank missions. His sensei is Hatake Kakashi, also known as **Sharingan no Kakashi **and **Kopi Ninja no Kakashi. **His teammates are Haruno Sakura and Sai. He graduated as second best. He also has the sharingan. His skills areas are ninjutsu and taijutsu. His genjutsu is unknown."

He poured his Chakra into the other card.

"Sai. There is barely any information about him. It says that he was the rookie of the year in The Academy. He has the same amount of missions as Sasuke. His taijutsu is superb. That's all I can say."

Shizuka looked at Sai. She already had an idea about him.

"Now, Uchiha Tayaka."

Kabuto looked at the card. His eyes widened.

"Impossible."

Kabuto poured chakra into the other two cards that held team 11's information.

"That's strange."

"What is it?"

Kabuto turned his head slowly to see team 11's eye on him.

"Well, all of them have completed 55 D-Rank missions."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"And?"

"They have completed one A-Ranked mission without difficulty. It says that the team went against Zabuza from Kiri during the mission. He's one of the Seven Swordsman."

Everyone couldn't believe what they were hearing. A rookie genin team went against Zabuza.

"According to the info cards. Zabuza almost died by the team."

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

How does he have this information?

"Their sensei is Uzuki Yūgao. Tayaka is said to be great at ninjutsu. Naruto appears to be a kenjutsu fighter. Nothing else is known about the group. It's strange because I should have more information than that. Almost nothing is known about the group."

Kabuto placed his cards back on the deck. Before he could pick it up from the floor. A kunai was launched at a rapid speed. It pierced the deck. The cards suddenly caught on fire.

"NO!"

Kabuto tied to save the cards, but it was futile.

Everyone looked around to find who launched the weapon.

Only Shikmaru, Garra, Neji, and Lee noticed that the kunai in Shizuka's hand was missing.

Kabuto sighed and gave his last words to the genins. Before he could leave, Kabuto was attacked by the team from the sound village.

Before they could attack Kabuto any further, a group of people appeared in front of the classroom.

In the middle stood someone that team Yu had the pleasure of meeting.

"You three form the sound village! Fighting in the exams is prohibited unless instructed. Do you want to eliminate from the exams?"

_'I didn't know he would be hosting the exams. It just makes things more entertaining for me.'_

Could Minato have chosen him because of the amount of ninja participating in the exams this year?

"Now, my name is Marino Ibiki. I'll be your instructor for the first part of the exams." yelled Ibiki," Now everyone line up. Turn in the permission slip at the front and get a number. They'll determine your assigned seat."

Once everyone was seated, Ibiki explained the rules of the test.

When he said the scores would be as a team, Naruto paled. Tayaka was smart, but she wasn't the greatest.

Naruto had thought over what to do to help Tayaka. He knew he didn't have to help Shizuka. One thing he liked about Shizuka was that she was a born genius.

He looked over at Tayaka and saw that she was writing. It confused him until it hit him.

_'She's using her eyes!'_

Naruto felt like an idiot. With her eyes, Tayaka wouldn't have any difficulty.

He scanned through his test and found he will only be able to answer five. He frowned at this. Looking through the test, he found the answers get more difficult with every question.

Then he remembered the rules. Naruto smirked and wrote on the paper without a care in the world. When he finished, he looked around the room. He found that he was sitting next to a Hinata and a Kiri genin. The Kiri genin appeared to be nervous. He looked into the boy's eyes and found he was scared.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto looked at Hinata. She seemed to have something on her mind. He noticed the little glances the girl would give him.

Naruto ignored Hinata and looked in front of him. He spotted Kabuto. He knew that Kabuto was probably a spy. For who, he didn't know. Kabuto was a spy after he told them about the fight in Kiri. He was surprised that he didn't have info on the massacre his team caused. He decided to inform Ibiki on his test.

Ibiki and Naruto had known each other since his first D-Rank mission. They got along perfectly. Ibiki had taught him two jutsus and even offered him an apprenticeship once he became jonin. He told Anko and Yūgao about it in Kumiko's.

Anko was so proud of him and claimed she would be ecstatic to have him in her feild of work. She informed Naruto that she was apart of the IT team her first year as a jonin. She still works there, but the Hokage has her do regular jonin missions too.

Yūgao was happy for him too. She stated that his talents would be fantastic for the line of work. Yūgao did say that Tayaka would be a better choice. Since Naruto knew of Tayaka's sadistic nature, he agreed with Yūgao.

Naruto looked in the corner of the room and spotted Nawaki in between a Kiri and Suna genin.

Naruto almost burst out laughing. He knew Nawaki was a good shinobi, but smarts weren't his forte. The dumbass was shaking like a leaf. He was holding himself and turning blue. Mito was sitting behind him and glaring at the idiot.

He looked at Garra. Naruto didn't know a lot about the boy. He only knew that he was dangerous. The evil in the boy's eyes was evident. If one were to look closer, they would see the pain too. Tayaka had pointed it out. Shizuka thinks he could be the jinchuuriki of Suna.

Shizuka loves reading in her free time. She snuck into the forbidden section in the library when they were in the academy. She read all about the tailed beasts. She believed he could have the Ichibi. It would explain his evil eyes.

Finally, he looked at his best friends.

Tayaka appeared to be looking at Garra. She looked bored. She was always hyper, so it shouldn't be a surprise.

Finally, he looked at Shizuka. She was twirling a kunai in her hand. She either figured it out or just finished the test.

Deciding that he had time before the end of the test, Naruto started talking with Zoro.

_'Hey, nii-san.'_

_'What.'_

_'Can you tell me about Meito?'_

Zoro thought about it. Now might be the perfect time to explain Meito to Naruto. He had nothing to do but sit there.

_'Meito are blades that were created by master blacksmiths from my time. These blades have superior craftsmanship.'_

Naruto nodded. He knew that Zoro wouldn't give him a full explanation until the end of the exams.

Naruto thought about the swords he had in his possession. He only had four. He wanted to ask Zoro about the swords that held his soul, but Zoro would eventually tell him.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Ibiki.

"Okay, its time for the tenth question."

Naruto was unfazed by Ibiki. Usually, Ikibi kept him on his toes, but Naruto already knew his gameplan. He was the head of IT for a reason.

_'He's going to try and scare them.'_

Ibiki explained the tenth question to the genin. When he finished, the genin were all in shock.

Naruto internally scoffed.

_'So that's the strategy you're going with Ibiki?'_

Shizuka looked around the room. Were these genin stupid enough to believe him?

Ibiki didn't have the right to do that. He was just a proctor. The Kages of their villages wouldn't stand for it.

Since the beginning of the test, Shizuka knew what Ibiki was planning. She didn't need to cheat. She read through all the questions and was able to answer eight of them. After about ten minutes, Shizuka finished the exam.

She had been twirling her kunai and thinking about the exams. She knew as the exams continued, the possibilities of them slipping increase.

She was worried about Tayaka the most.

Her eyes were a big part of the girl. Only Kakashi and the Hyuga can discover her eyes.

_'No, I won't let them touch her!'_

She shook her head and thought about how discreet she needs to be during the exams. Shizuka didn't want to use any poison jutsu during the exams. She only invented three, but they took up too much chakra. She was still working on the kinks.

Tayaka wanted to die. She was so bored. There was nothing to do while waiting for everyone else. The only thing she could do was sleep. Then she realized she could have been sleeping.

When Ibiki announced that it was time for the final question, she only had two minutes of sleep.

_'Damn it!'_

After Ibiki finished announcing the rules about the tenth question, people started raising their hands and forfeit the exams.

Team Yu watched as people started to leave the classroom. Naruto almost cracked a smile.

_'The less competition, the better.'_

Everything was going great until Nawaki and Mina opened their mouths. He thought that Nawaki was going to quit when he raised his hand, but then he slammed it down. He stated he wasn't a coward. Mina joined him in a more calmed fashion and started a speech. Mina's speech motivated many to stay.

_'You can always count on Nawaki to be dramatic and Mina to be the voice of reason.'_

"Now is your chance to quit, genin."

"Didn't you hear my siblings. No way in hell are we quitting."

Naruto looked at Mito.

He was surprised she spoke at all.

Ibiki looked at Naruto. He decided to try the gaki out.

"What about you, Naruto. Are you going to quit or stay?"

Naruto had his eyes closed and his arms crossed. His legs were resting on the table.

"I'm not a fool, Ibiki. I'm staying. Your tactics in scaring me are futile."

Ibiki smirked at Naruto. He liked the kid's guts.

"Is there anyone who would like to withdraw from the exams? Now is your last chance."

Nobody moved a muscle. After Mina's speech, everyone became more motivated to stay in the exams.

"Very well, you all passed!"

Many people in the room were dumbfounded at Ibiki's response. Did they hear correctly?

"I knew it." Naruto muttered to himself.

Ibiki explained to the genin about the importance of the exam. He explained how it was designed to force them to cheat. They had to cheat and not be caught.

The choice of either taking the tenth question or quitting the exams was the tenth question.

Naruto decided to ignore him. He already knew the purpose of the test.

When Ibiki finished speaking, something broke the window. Naruto almost groaned.

_'Kami give me patients.'_

There, standing in the front of the classroom with a banner behind her, was Anko.

Everyone was surprised at her entrance. Especially the banner.

'The beautiful and sexy Mitarashi Anko! Proctor of the second exam!'

Naruto almost fainted from the sight.

_'You gotta be kidding me!'_

"Don't go and celebrate yet! You still have to take the next part of the exam." Anko said proudly. "I'm Mitarashi Anko, the proctor of the second exam."

"You're early."

She turned her head and saw Ibiki. Then she turned her head back to the genin.

"You're losing it, Ibiki. You let too many of them pass."

"It couldn't be helped. There are strong candidates this year."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure more than half are out of the exams."

Anko looked around the room and smirked when she saw Naruto trying to hide under his desk. Deciding to punish him, Anko zoomed on top of Naruto's row.

"Naruto-kun!"

Anko yanked Naruto, who wore a blank expression. Naruto refused to blush in front of everyone.

She hugged Naruto and made sure his face was pressed against her breasts.

"Oh! I didn't know you were taking the chunin exams this year. If I've known, I would've gotten you a gift." she purred.

Anko made sure to use her body and pressed her stomach against Naruto's hip.

The sight of Anko seducing Naruto was enough to make men drool and woman jealous.

Tayaka loved what Anko was doing and decided to join in the fun.

"Naruto-kun, did you forget about me?" she said cutely.

Naruto paled when he heard Tayaka. Before Anko knew it, she was hugging a random genin.

"Its not fair to use **Kawarimi.**"

She looked around the room and spotted Naruto next to the broken window.

"Who are you?"

Anko looked in the direction of Shizuka. What she saw made her sweat a bit. Angry would be an understatement to describe the girl. She was furious. The people around her were frightened by her aura. Even Garra was impressed by her anger, but he was also annoyed by everything happening.

"I'm Anko. Haven't you been paying attention?"

Going back to the front of the classroom, Anko continued where she left off.

"Alright, meet me at training ground 44 in an hour. If you aren't there in 30 minutes, you fail the exams."

The genin quickly followed Anko. Naruto was about to leave when Tayaka walked up to him.

"How long have you known that lady?!"

Naruto looked at her with irritation.

"I've known her since I was a kid. Now, my nightmare has come true."

"What nightmare?"

"The day you both meet."

Tayaka slapped Naruto on the shoulder.

"I'm not that bad!"

Naruto shook his head. Tayaka was more tamed than Anko, but they were both playful. Naruto knew if the two started talking, hell would break loose.

"Naruto."

Naruto looked at the direction of the sickly sweet voice. An angry Shizuka walking his way.

"When were you going to introduce me to that woman?"

"Never, because If I did hell would break loose."

Naruto pointed at Tayaka, whose eyes glinted with mischief.

Shizuka motioned them to hurry to the training ground to see their next test. She will speak with both Anko and Naruto when this was over.

* * *

AN: I finally posted the next chapter. Sorry for the wait. :)


	16. Chapter 16

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.  


* * *

Chapter 16: Forest of Death

**TG 44 (Forst of Death)**

Team Yū was the last to arrive in the meeting spot. Anko was a bit annoyed that they made it there last, but ignored it.

"I'm going to pass out these consent forms."

Anko passed them out.

"What are these for?"

Anko looked at Sakura.

"In this part of the exams, there's a chance that some of you won't make it out alive. These wavers are so I won't be held accountable for anything that happens there."

Naruto held back his smirk. Anko was a Konoha's sadist. If anyone could get rid of the competition, it was her.

Once everyone signed their form, Anko took them.

"Your mission is to survive the forest and make it to the tower with these two scrolls."

Anko showed them two scrolls that were labeled heaven and earth.

"Now, for the rules!"

"Rule 1, you are to reach the tower in the center of the forest in five days. Rule 2, you have to have all your teammates with you when entering the tower. If a teammate is incapacitated or killed, your squad will be disqualified from the exams. The final rule is more of a suggestion. Don't open the scrolls."

When she finished explaining everything, teams stared to retrieve their scroll in private.

Team Yū turned in their forms and received a scroll from the booth. They were taken to entrance 11 of the forest.

"Thank kami!" said Tayaka

The team had just avoided being apart of a conversation with the other genin teams.

"Let's focus on the mission at hand. We have five days to reach the tower. Tayaka-chan, what's our scroll?" Naruto asked.

Tayaka had her scroll in her arm. Naruto was able to make a seal on her arm using ink.

"We have heaven, which means we need the earth scroll."

Naruto nodded and started devising a plan.

"We need to do formation 20."

The team waited patiently for their gate to open. After 30 minutes, their gate finally opened.

The team quickly rushed into the forest.

"Tayaka, activate your eyes. Is there anyone near us?"

Tayaka activated them and looked around. She loved her eyes because when the active, her sight didn't change color.

"Nothing is in the area. I think we are alone."

"Keep your eyes activated while we talk. I don't want anyone to catch us while we're planning."

Tayaka nodded and paid Shizuka.

"The best course of action will be to attack the team from Amegakure. You saw how they acted throughout the exam. They were pretty scared of Anko. Not only that, but it seemed like their teamwork was shaky. The sooner we get to the tower, the better."

Naruto agreed but was interrupted by Tayaka.

"I think its best we leave them alone. They don't seem like bad people."

Shizuka looked at Naruto and waited for him to respond.

"If you want that, its fine. I'm more interested in the other team Zoro located."

"No, we aren't following Zoro! Remember what happened last time we let him give us directions."

Naruto remembered very well. Zoro tried to take them to the cave in the forest and ended up taking them to the tower. They had to trackback after realizing they were nowhere near the cave.

"Fair point."

_'What's that supposed to mean?!'_

Naruto can already see the look of anger on Zoro's face.

"I say let's get the ones who are torturing a group of kunoichi. They just brutally killed the youngest member of that squad."

Naruto had to raise an eyebrow at that. He knew this part of the exam was going to have people killed brutally, but this early?

"What scroll do they have?"

"They have both scrolls."

Naruto nodded and followed Tayaka to the location of the teams.

* * *

"Look at their faces! Hahaha! What, you haven't seen a dead body before?"

The Kiri ninja grabbed the hand of the corpse and waved it to the two remaining kunoichis. The two kunoichis weren't able to fight their opponents. They watched as the Kiri ninja played with their fallen leader.

One of the kunoichis had her arms are tied to the sides of her body. She looked like her face had been bashed repeatedly. The other girl was crying because the two Kiri ninja were restraining her from running to her sister.

"Oh, you don't like my show. I always get this reaction. You know, in Kiri, I was working with my father in researching and disposing the corpses of the bloodline users. Everything was going great until that bitch killed Yagura-sama."

The leader let go of the body and let it drop. He tilted his head down and let his white bangs cover his eyes. He wore a black jacket and black shinobi pants.

"When I saw this girl, she reminded me of those freaks. I don't know if Taki has any bloodline people, but I couldn't help it."

Before he could continue speaking, he caught a flying kunai. He smirked until he saw a tag.

"Shit!"

The boy was blown away by the force of the explosion. He hit a tree and saw a kunai flying to his direction. He was able to dodge the projectiles. He couldn't risk another blow.

The boy jumped into the trees and hid on a trunk.

"Who did that?"

He looked down and saw nobody near the others. Looking around the trees, he saw that no one was near him.

The boy then felt pain on his shoulder and looked up.

"You forgot to check above you."

Before the boy and talk, a kunai was pierced into his heart. His body went limp.

Shizuka came down from the above while Tayaka walked to the dead body.

"Now, its Naruto's turn."

* * *

"What's taking Matsu so long?" said a bald headed teen.

"No idea." said a muscular boy who looked around the area.

Matsu should have been back by now. He was the brains of the team. They admired him for his part in the war. They hated bloodline users. Matsu's family was known for killing bloodline shinobi. He plans to start another war once he becomes the next Mizukage.

Before they can think more, something fell from the air.

"Matsu!"

The bald teen caught Matsu in the air.

"Are you okay?"

Matsu looked like a bloody mess. Before he could ask anything else, the bald teen's neck was cut open. His body landed on the ground in a soft impact.

Matsu stood up and looked at the muscular teen.

"What have you done to Matsu?!"

The imposter rushed to the teen. Gritting his teeth, the teen let go of his hostage and prepared to fight the fake Matsu. Just before the fake Matsu was in front of the teen, a jutsu was heard.

"**Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu! (Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!).**" yelled Tayaka.

The teen's feet were grabbed by hands that were sticking out of the ground. He was pulled underground until his head was sticking out.

Using hand signs, the imposter canceled his jutsu.

Standing in front of the teen was Naruto.

"I'm happy you freed your teammate from the ropes." said Shizuka after landing on the ground.

Shizuka landed later with the body of Matsu.

"Thank you." said the blue-haired girl that escaped the ropes.

"No thanks are needed. You can do whatever you want to the guy stuck in the ground. If anything, we're sorry for your loss." said Naruto.

Shizuka walked up to the crying girl that just lost her teammate. She handed her a flower pin. "I got this from the guy's pocket. It was hers's wasn't it."

The crying girl nodded and held onto the pin.

Naruto looked at Shizuka. He liked how comforting Shizuka can be to anybody. He remembered how much she would be there for him. It wasn't always to comfort him, but it mattered to him that she was there. Her eyes made him feel good.

_'Is he this stupid?'_

Naruto frowned when he heard Zoro nii-san.

"Alright, we should get going."

"Wait!"

The team looked at the blue-haired girl.

"Can you please take us with you."

The team was surprised at her request.

"We technically lost the exams. There is no reason to hurt you."

Naruto thought about it. Technically, they are out of the exams because of their dead teammate. He didn't want to leave those girls in the forest. He knew all about the creatures that live here.

"Alright, you can come. Just know if you step out of line, I will leave you here."

They nodded their heads and watched as Naruto took out a scroll.

"I don't think you want your teammate to be left here. I'll put her in a special scroll so you can take her body to your home in Taki."

Naruto sealed the body into the scroll with the girl's chakra.

Naruto saw Shizuak grab onto the crying girl. She looked tired. Naruto got a good look at her. The girl looked like the dead teammate. Her hair was brown and in a messy bun. Her eyes were as green as grass.

"Get on my back and make sure your arms are around my neck tightly."

The girl watched as Shizuka kneeled in front of the girl. The girl quickly got on her back.

"Are you able to walk?" Tayaka asked the blue-haired girl.

"Yeah, those guys just beat me up a little."

Tayaka nodded but still kept her eyes on the girl.

"We'll be moving at a fast pace. Try to keep up. If you can't, I'm carrying you."

The girl nodded and prepared to leave.

* * *

**The Next Day**

Team Yu woke up at daybreak. They had been resting in a cave near the middle of the forest. Naruto knew it was safe, plus the creatures in the forest weren't a threat to them.

When they woke up, Tayaka was already getting the ration bars ready for everyone.

"It's a good thing I always take precautions."

"Liar."

Shizuka raised her hand at them.

"Enough. It's too early to hear you two fight. We need to eat and get moving."

Nodding their heads, Naruto and Tayaka started to eat their portion of rations.

Once everyone finished, they continued their journey to the tower. Shizuka still carried the crying girl from yesterday. The girl had cried herself to sleep.

"My name is Yoko. The sleeping girl is Utano."

"I'm Naruto. These two are Tayaka and Shizuka."

The girls nodded their heads when their name was said to her.

"Stop."

Naruto stopped at a tree and looked towards Tayaka.

"Team Kaka is in trouble. They are fighting a team from Otogakure. Should we take a look?"

Naruto looked at Yoko for consent. When she nodded, Naruto ordered the team to stay high in the trees. He didn't want any of them to know they were in the area.

They watched the full fight between Lee and Dosu. Then they watch the battle Sasuke and Zaku.

The team was startled by the power radiating from Sasuke. Tayaka used her eyes on Sasuke. She found all the power was coming from the mark located in his shoulder. When she described it, Naruto and Shizuka became worried.

"We should go. The tower isn't near here. If my calculations are correct, teams 7 and 10 will make it in the last minute."

Naruto and Tayaka nodded and started their journey to the tower.

"For regular people who haven't been to the forest, it will take them two days to get to the tower. Luckily for us, we will make it there before that time."

"Why?"

"Because we know the way to the tower, Yoko."

It took a while, but the team arrived at the tower, but they made it at night.

When they stepped inside, they found writing on the wall.

"Oh, I get it."

Shizuka opened her scroll and motioned for Tayaka to open the other one. They quickly threw them on the ground.

From the smoke, Yūgao emerged with a smile on her face.

"I knew you would make it!"

She smiled at her team with pride. Then she saw the two figures behind them.

"Oh. Who are you two?"

"Yū-sensei, they lost a teammate in the forest. They know about being disqualified from the exams. They just wanted to get here safe."

Yūgao looked at the two girls.

"I'm sorry about your teammate. I'll inform your jonin sensei. For now, pick a room to stay in on the third floor to the right. You can't miss it."

They nodded and headed to the stairs located on the left side of the room.

Before they left, the girls looked to the team.

"Thank you for everything. I know taking us this far could have been troubling for you three. We will never forget what you did for us."

The team looked at Utano. That was the most they heard from the girl.

They all said their goodbyes and the two girls left.

"Alright, you will stay on the second floor of the building. Your team is third place for arriving first on the first day of the exams."

"Third?" asked Tayaka. She didn't think they would be the third team to arrive in the exams.

"You have all arrived here an hour after team 12. The first team here was from Suna. They got here on the first day of the exam."

Naruto was curious about how the suna-nin arrived here first. Did it have to do with Garra?

"I'm going to take all of you to your assigned room."

They followed their sensei to their room.

"You'll be staying here for the next few days. I'll see you all on the third part of the exam."

Their sensei left in a poof of smoke. The team headed inside their room. Once they were inside, Naruto put a silencing seal on the door.

They took a look around the room.

It just had a couch and three beds. There was only one bathroom with a shower and toilet. There wasn't anything special.

"This room is so bare."

"If you think about it, Anko lives here. I don't think she the type of person to decorate the whole tower, especially because of the exams."

Shizuka turned to Naruto with a fire in her eyes.

"Who is Anko, Naruto?"

Naruto sat on the bed nearest to the door.

"Anko was my first sensei after finding Zoro. She is like my onee-san."

The last sentence made Shizuka happier for some weird reason.

_'I should ask Yū-sensei or Tokiwa about these feelings.'_

"Now, we need to talk about the key contestants in the exams."

Shizuka and Tayaka's attention was immediately on Naruto.

"From what we know, Garra, Neji, Lee, Sasuke, and the Oto team can pose as a challenge." said Tayaka. She was a bit worried about Sasuke. What she witnessed was nothing near her power. The mark on his neck frightened her a bit. The surging chakra from his neck was tainted. It was unreal.

"Let's focus on Garra. Without a doubt, we can't beat him without revealing ourselves. If one of us has to fight Garra, we need to forfeit. There is no debating that."

The girls agreed. Garra is a possible jinchuuriki.

"He has to be the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi. He has power over sand! The Ichibi is known as the craziest and most bloodthirsty of all the tailed beasts." stated Tayaka.

"Now what about Neji. I'm worried about the possibility of the sharingan or byakugan seeing your eyes." stated Shizuka.

Tayaka understood their concerns. Her eyes needed to be hidden from both clans.

"I'm not going to activate them unless its an emergency."

Shizuka agreed with Tayaka and added her opinion.

"She needs to learn not to rely on them so much. It can lead to her downfall. If she's not careful, something bad can happen."

Naruto decided to talk about Lee.

"His speed is too high for a mear genin. I'm not certain if it's as close to mine, but I'm worried about if it surpasses me. I know what Maito's are capable of because of _that _day. I want to be a taijutsu master like them too."

The girls knew too well about Naruto's secondary obsession. Naruto was addicted to swords like Kakashi is addicted to porn. He would want to be known as the greatest swordsman on earth, but he also wants to excel in taijutsu.

Naruto loved to roughhouse. It wasn't a secret because of his taijutsu matches with Gekko. He was the closest to Gai's expertise. Naruto wanted to take full advantage of it. He was able to fix most of his taijutsu, but it was still imperfect.

"If we need to fight him, We need to try long-range attacks. In that situation, I might need to use my eyes."

Naruto shook his head. Lee was a problem.

"Long-range is our best shot. Next, the Oto team. The one with a gauntlet it a problem for you girls. Shizuka, you'll have long-range to your advantage. Tayaka, I'm worried about you. You are usually a close-range fighter. You think you can handle the team from Oto if they make it here?"

Tayaka gritted her teeth. She knew that Naruto and Shizuka were always worried about her. It didn't have to do with her being the youngest. No, it had to do with the fact she was the weakest. Naruto and Shizuka were always one step ahead of her. Even when she beats Shizuka in a spar, she knew.

_'I'll get stronger.'_

"I'll be fine. Stop worrying about me. I have plans for the Oto team if they pass the forest."

"I don't think we have to worry so much about team 7."

Naruto nodded at Shizuka. The Oto team did them damage. It looked like they fought before the battle. Sai and Sasuke were unconscious during the beginning of the fight. The team from Otogakure was going to kill them until Sasuke woke up and broke Zaku's arms.

"If they get here, they won't have a lot of energy with them. Sasuke might not be a problem. Sai won't even be able to fight with a broken arm."

When they arrived, Sai had a broken arm. It would be surprising if Sai won with a handicap.

"Alright, I'm getting some sleep. Don't be surprised if I wake up on the last day."

On cue, Naruto deactivated the seal and headed straight to bed. The girls followed his lead and went to sleep. They were pretty tired after running all night to the tower.

* * *

Naruto woke up to the sound a yelling Tayaka.

"If that baka doesn't wake up, I'll punch him square in the face!"

Shizuka was trying to hold Tayaka back from behind. Naruto sat up and rose his signature eyebrow up. Why is Tayaka so angry this time?

"Good, your up, the cafeteria is serving Onigiri. I wasn't allowed to get some until you woke up."

"Oh, that makes sense. You only rage like that for food."

A tick mark appeared on top of Tayaka's head.

"You little-"

"That's enough! Both of you better not waste your time fighting over something stupid! I sware, I'm around gakis!"

Naruto and Tayaka put their heads down and murmured an apology to Shizuka. It took five minutes for the team to leave their rooms and make their way to the cafeteria.

"I didn't know there was a cafeteria. I thought only Anko lived here."

"Nobody knew except the Hokage."

When they walked in, they spotted teams of genin sitting on benches. They saw four Konoha, one Kiri, one Suna, and one Kumo team in the cafeteria. Teams 6,7, and 10 were nowhere to be found. They didn't even see the team from Otogakure.

Once the team received their food, they searched for a place to sit.

"Is that Haku?"

Naruto and Shizuka turned their heads to the Kiri team. Haku was sitting there with a shy boy.

"Tayaka?"

Haku was wrapped in a hug by Tayaka. The commotion was enough to gain the attention of some in the room.

"It been a while, huh?"

"Yes, this is my team. That's Yuna and Chojuro."

Yuna was a small girl with white hair combed back. Her eyes were a casual brown. She dressed a lot like a civilian. She just wore a grey hoody with black pants. She looked happy to see them.

Chojuro was the person Naruto stared at the most. The body had blue glasses and short blue hair. He looked just like a swordsman from Kiri. That sword was also screaming at Naruto.

"It's nice to meet the people who saved Kiri."

The cafeteria became dead silent at the sentence.

"We didn't save Kiri. We only helped with one thing. That's it."

Yuma was going to argue, but Haku gave her a sign to stop.

"Well, you can sit with us. We would like to know about the great restaurants in Konoha. It's not every day you have things like meat and ramen."

Yuma was right. Shizuka had read that each hidden village didn't have the same food as others. For example, Suna didn't have sushi because of its climate.

"Well, have you heard of a restaurant called Kumiko's. I guarantee a good meal there. They have the best food in the village!"

"Liar!"

Naruto turned around to see who dared called him a liar.

"Everyone knows that Ichiraku's ramen is the best place to get food!"

Naruto sweatdropped at Nawaki.

"You don't count because you are a ramen obsessed idiot."

Naruto sat down and ate his food with the Kiri team. Naruto knew he won. Nawaki didn't know about his obsession with meat. If he did, Naruto was sure he'd be called a hypocrite.

Nawai sat down and continued eating his food.

An hour passed as team Yū talked with Yuma and Haku. It wasn't until some came in and escorted everyone to another room.

When they entered, they saw their senseis and the Hokage waiting for them in front of a statue of two hands making the ram sign.

Naruto already had a bad feeling about this.


	17. Chapter 17

Welcome Back!

Sorry about the break, but I had many things happen during the past month.

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 17: Preliminaries Part I

The team watched everyone in front of them.

They saw the proctors of the last two exams with the addition of Genma. Team Yū was able to see three hidden ANBU before they arrived in front of the Kage.

Naruto was shocked when he saw Zabuza standing next to the senseis. He assumed that Zabuza was the sensei for the Kiri team.

"Congratulations to everyone who passed the second part of the Chunin Exams."

Minato went on and talked about the true meanings of the exam to everyone. Naruto just kept his focus on Yūgao. She looked on proudly.

"Thank you for listening, but now is the time I announce what will be happening in the final part of the exam."

Before the Hokage could continue, Gekko appeared bowing in front of the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, before we continue, I would like to speak."

Minato looked at Gekko with a seriousness.

"Since you are the proctor for the third exam, you may."

Hayate looked at the genin behind him.

"Before the third exam, you will all participate in a preliminary round."

Everyone couldn't believe Hayate.

"There are too many of you to continue. We need to narrow it down to the best. According to the rules of the exam, a preliminary round can happen at any stage."

Naruto and Tayaka can't believe they had to fight so soon, but they didn't complain. Since Zoro's presence scared the animals in the forest, the team had no real action.

"The preliminary round will start now. Is there anyone who doesn't want to continue the exams?"

A Konoha-nin and Yuma raised their hands. Shizuka didn't like the look in Konoha-nin's eye. The glasses-wearing genin walked away from the room. Yuma was not far behind.

_'With the injury she suffered in the forest, it was the right choice for her to leave.'_

"Now then, the screen will select two genin at random to fight."

They looked up on the screen to see the individuals that will fight the first round.

**Uchiha Sasuke VS Akado Yoroi**

_'Sasuke is fighting sooner than I thought.'_

Naruto and the rest of the genin squads went up the stairs to observe the match.

"Sasuke doesn't look so good. Will he even be able to win his match?"

Naruto looked at Takaya with a smirk.

"Who knows, maybe he'll surprise us."

They observed the match. Team Yū saw how Sasuke was barely able to move because of his charka being absorbed.

"Sasuke looks ready to pass out. He barely had any chakra at the beginning of the match. What is he going to do now?"

Naruto saw Sasuke us a that looked like something Gai would do. He looked a Lee and saw the shock written on his face. Did Gai teach him?

No.

The look on Gai's face said otherwise. He looked surprised too.

"He copied the move."

Everyone looked at Shizuka.

"That's the only logical explanation. That attack should have taken months to master. Sasuke must have seen Gai or Lee do that somewhere."

"Copy?"

"Yes, Lee. The only way he could have done it is with the sharingan. It can copy jutsu and movements," said Tayaka.

Lee gasped in realization.

When the match finished, Kakashi took Sasuke away.

_'I'm still surprised Sasuke was able to win under his condition.'_

Everyone looked up at the board to see who would fight next.

**Inuzuka Kiba VS Omoi**

"Yes! Let's show them what we can do, Akamaru!"

Kiba jumped down from the railing and waited patiently for his opponent to walk down to the arena.

Omoi walked down the steps to face his opponent.

"There is something about him."

Shizuka and Tayaka looked at Naruto expectantly.

"It's the sword on his back. He must have a talent in kenjutsu." clarified Naruto, " I can feel it."

Naruto glanced to his left to look at Omoi's sensei. He couldn't help but sweatdrop at the strange man.

"Whatcha look'en at, ya fool?" asked the sensei.

Naruto shook his head. The sensei was strange for better words. He was scribbling things down in a book and rhyming, or a least, trying to rhyme.

Once Omoi waked to the center of the stage, Hayate started the match. To Naruto's complete surprise, Kiba didn't make a move. He thought the boy would have tried something by now.

_'Maybe Kiba isn't the idiot.'_

* * *

Kiba looked at Omoi with curiosity.

He would've made the first move, but Omoi was from Kumo, which meant he knew nothing about his opponent. He planned to advance in the final round of the exams by being cautious. He thanked his sensei for talking with him before the exams.

_'He's got a sword on his back, so maybe he's a kenjutsu user like Naruto and Ryu.'_

Kiba started getting into position with Akamaru.

Omoi pulled out three kunai from his pocket and lanched them at Kiba.

Kiba only smirked at dodged them with ease.

"Your fast for a fresh genin, but how fast are you?"

Without further explanation, Omoi started to bombard Kiba with Kunai at a fast rate.

Kiba starts to dodge and defect all the kunai thrown at him.

Omoi ceased fire and started sucking on his lollipop in his mouth.

"You managed to block all of them."

**"Giju Ninpo: Shikyaku no Jutsu! (Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry: All-Fours Jutsu)."**

Kiba started to inherit a beast-like appearance with chakra surrounding his body.

Omoi frowned and started making hands signs. Once finished weaving them, Omoi sprayed a stream of water at Kiba's direction.

Kiba quickly dodged the attack and elbowed Omoi on his left ribs. Omoi coughed and stood up.

"Seems you can withstand that attack. The next one will break your lungs, so give it up."

Akamaru barked in agreement with Kiba.

"What do I do? If I don't win, Bee-sama will kick my ass. If he kicks my ass, the Raikage will follow too. Then, I'll be in the hospital for weeks. Kamui and Samui will go on missions without me and get hurt." rambled Omoi.

* * *

Deciding not to face the wrath of both his sensei and Kage, Omoi withdrew his sword and charged at Kiba.

Kiba only shook his head and charged at Omoi.

He tried to punch Omoi but was shocked when he blocked his attack with it.

"How is that possible, the sword should've broken from the strength of my jutsu. Not only does it enhance my speed, but it enhances my strength too. So, how can you black my attack?"

Smiling, Omoi decided to change at Kiba again. Kiba backed away from Omoi, which caused the boy to stop charging at Kiba.

"Akamaru, let's do it!"

Akamaru barked and jumped on top of Kiba's back.

"Too late."

Kiba at Omoi to see his sword covered in lightning. Omoi made his sword touch the ground. A line of lighting started to appear on the ground. The line od lightning quickly approached Kiba.

Kiba and Akamaru howled in pain as they became electrocuted.

* * *

"That guy is smart. He didn't throw kunai at Kiba to get a feel from him, but to spring a trap," said Tayaka.

Shizuka nodded in agreement.

"He attached wires to some kunai and used the suiton jutsu to be able to electrocute him. He only acted like he was about to charge a Kiba to make him back up into the water. Once Kiba's feet were in the water, Omoi used his lightning jutsu on his ninja wire, sending the electricity into the water.

"I get it!" exclaimed Nawaki.

The screen started to select the next competitors.

**Uchiha Tayaka VS Haruno Sakura**

Tayaka instantly became disappointed at who her opponent.

_'Out of everybody I get to fight, I have to get fangirl?!'_

"For once, I pity you," stated Naruto while patting her back.

Sakura walked down the steps with a smirk on her face. She knew that Tayaka would be one of the weakest opponents to face. She was lucky to get the opportunity to fight Tayaka, but she had a nagging feeling in the back of her neck.

Tayaka sighed and walked down the steps to battle Sakura.

"I'm warning you now, Sakura. Forfeit the match."

Sakura shook her head in disagreement.

"No. I won't forfeit after everything my teams done to be here. I'll take you down easy because you don't have the sharingan."

Sakura started to attack Tayaka using taijutsu.

Tayaka frowned when Sakura was displaying the academy taijutsu. She felt both insulted and disgusted to face Sakura.

Sakura went for a normal uppercut only for it to be blocked. She coughed when Tayaka mercilessly kicked her in the stomach. Spit flew from Sakura's mouth as she landed on the floor.

"I thought that you had improved since the academy. I guess I was wrong to think that."

* * *

"I didn't think Tayaka disliked Sakura so much," stated Kushina as she watched Sakura struggling to stand.

"She doesn't dislike her, but she despises fangirls," explained Yūgao, "See, Tayaka and Shizuka think that if a kunoichi is a fangirl, they are instantly weak. Sakura caused Tayaka to be angry because she is using the academy style taijutsu against her in the fight. To Tayaka, Sakura is nothing more than a kid playing ninja."

"Does she have to act so violently against my student, Yūgao ?"

"Tayaka intends to beat some reality into Sakura since you failed her in improving her taijutsu as a sensei should," answered Naruto coldly.

* * *

Sakura stood up and faced Tayaka.

She grabbed two kunai and charged at Tayaka.

Tayaka took out two kunais of her own and engaged with Sakura. She kicked the kunai Sakura had in her left hand with grace and blacked the right one with her kunai. She used her left hand and punched Sakura in the face with the kunai glazing her cheek.

Sakura stumbled back as blood started dripping from her cheek.

Tayaak dropped her kunai and used her speed to kicked Sakura on the chest while she was distracted by the sting of the cut.

The pink-haired girl was unconscious on the ground while labored breaths came out of her body.

"Keep in mind that if I am the enemy you encountered outside the village, you'd be dead at my feet by now."

"The winner is Uchiha Tayaka," stated Genma.

* * *

**Ami VS Nara Shikamaru**

"Troublesome, I have to fight a girl."

Ami and some of the girls glared at Shikamaru.

_'Troublesome women.'_

Naruto noticed a tick mark on Tayaka, but Shizuka just ignored Shikamaru's comment.

Ami composed herself and walked to the bottom of the stairs. She learned from team 11 to not let emotions rule their judgment. Ami is a different person now. She had to thank her friends for that. She is more than ready to show them that she has grown to become a chunin.

Ami waited patiently next to Hayate with her foot tapping the pavement.

Shikamaru kept complaining about how troublesome this was while Ino kept yelling at him.

Naruto became irritated and decided to take action.

"Shik, if you get down there right now, I'll give you a rematch at shoji."

Shikamaru looked dead into Naruto's eyes.

Naruto knew about Shikamaru's anger towards him.

In the past, Zoro had pointed out that Shikamaru and Ino would follow him places. Naruto would disappear after turning a corner and hid above them. He saw Shikamaru and Ino become frustrated. They didn't even know he was watching them. Once, he heard the boy say Naruto is too mysterious for his liking. It got to a point where the boy would try to join him when spotted.

Shikamaru started walking down the steps until he was in front of Ami.

"Let the match begin."

Before Shikamaru could make a move, Ami started fighting him in taijutsu.

_'If I spar him, Shikamaru won't have time to make the necessary sign for his signature jutsu.'_

Shikamaru cursed.

He thought that Ino said she was a weak bully, but Ami was kicking his butt. Shikamaru decided to be on the defense for now. He needs to gain his bearings.

Ami knew what Shikamaru was doing, and decided to put a twist.

When she made a move to kick him in the chest, a knife appeared on the tip of her shoe. She slashed Shikamaru on the chest.

Shikamaru kneeled but was punched in the face by Ami. He rolled back and panted. Ami made sure to observe both Shikamaru and her surroundings.

* * *

Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi couldn't believe what they saw. Ami, who had low marks in the Academy, had injured Shikamaru.

They turned to Tayaka when they heard her chuckle.

"You taught her that technique?" asked Naruto.

A smirking Shizuka nodded.

"She hasn't mastered my style and probably never will, but the kunai comes in handy. I just taught her how to kick with it. She manages to hurt Shikamaru, but she revealed it too soon. Now, Shikamaru knows to avoid taijutsu. That was her only advantage against Shikamaru. I wonder what she'll do now."

* * *

Ami saw that Shikamaru was holding one hand to his chest.

He was in pain, the cut looked deep, but it wasn't fatal.

"Looks like you have some tricks up your sleeve, but you can't beat me."

Ami remained calm and tried to make Shikamaru engage in taijutsu, but he wasn't having any of it.

He quickly used his jutsu and yelled, **"Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Jutsu)."**

_'Shit!'_

Ami needed to avoid that jutsu. She decided to put chakra in her feet and run.

"There's no point in running."

Ami cursed, but remember something important. She needed to test it and see if she's correct.

She stopped running as the shadow came closer. Before it can even connect to her shadow, She poured chakra into her feet and jumped away. She saw how the slowed down and didn't keep stretching.

"You have a limit."

Shikamaru kept his lazy gaze on Ami. He couldn't believe she was this smart.

"I remembered that we studied the Nara clan. Iruka mentioned their shadow jutsus. I already knew about them, but Naruto also said something about shadow ranged weakness."

Shikamaru sighed and pulled out kunai his kunais. He started to furiously throw them towards Ami.

Seeing that Shikamaru tossing kunai at her, Ami decided to blocked them with her own kunai.

* * *

"I'm surprised she remembers our studies about clans in Konoha from the academy. Usually, Ami would say they we're boring and ignore the lectures. Looks like she was listening after all." sighed Naruto. He's been squatting on the railing since Haku's fight. Shizuka was sitting on the rail while kicking her feet.

"I told you Ami is smart," said Shizuka.

"What's she going to do now?" asked Tayaka with her arms crossed.

* * *

Shikamaru stopped throwing kunai at Ami and quickly used his **Kagemane no Jutsu** on Ami.

"It's no use, Shikamaru," Ami yelled. She backed away towards the wall and prepared to throw a kunai at Shikamaru. Before she had the opportunity to throw it, she felt her body stiffen.

_'Impossible!'_

"Shadow possession, complete."

Shikamaru stood up, causing Ami to mimic his movements.

"How? Your shadow shouldn't be able to touch me!"

Shikamaru looked at the kunais on the ground, knowing that Ami would follow his line of vision.

Shikamaru's shadow had connected to the shadow of one of the kunai he threw at her. The shadow then extended and connected to her own shadow.

_'Damn it. I was overconfident.'_

"Now, to end this match."

Shikamaru made Ami walk forward until she was a distance away from the wall, then made her hit her head against it.

"Winner, Nara Shikamaru."

As he was walking back up, the screen started randomly selecting the competitor for the next match.

**Yamanaka Ino VS Sai**

"Wow, Ino, you get to fight after Shikamaru."

Ino mentally cursed while looking at Sai.

Sai was someone with amazing talent.

During their years in the academy, Ino had noticed how Sai was exceptional in both taijutsu and ninjutsu. He was given many praises from the senseis and even had the chance to skip a year. She was confused when Sai had rejected the opportunity.

_'I need to be careful.'_

"Ino," said Shikamaru while walking towards her, "I don't need to tell you this, but you need to be careful."

Nodding at her friend, she quickly made her way towards the arena.

Shikamaru glance at Sai.

_'That guy is something.'_

* * *

"Begin," yelled Hayate.

Ino immediately backed away from Sai, hoping to gain some distance.

"Yamanaka-sama. I ask you to forfeit this match. I don't want to cause any unnecessary harm to you. Beautiful."

Quickly, a blush started to cover Ino's cheeks.

_'Did he just call me beautiful?'_

"Don't listen to him, Ino. He just trying to get into your head!" yelled Shikamaru. He knew Sai is trying to play Ino.

"I won't fall for any of your tricks, Sai. I'm going to be a chunin."

Sai's smile didn't flatter as he looked at Ino.

"Yamanaka-sama, I'm not joking when I called you beautiful, but since you refuse to surrender, I have no choice but to beat you."

Sai's smile vanished instantly.

He threw three smoke bombs on the ground, hiding from Ino. He knew that Ino wasn't too talented at taijutsu. She can use her family jutsu, but he needs to be moving to avoid it.

He has the advantage, but that didn't mean that Ino can outsmart him.

Ino took out two kunais and waited patiently for Sai to make the first move.

When the smoke cleared, Sai was charging at Ino.

Sai started to fight Ino in taijutsu.

Ino tried to punch him on the chest, but Sai countered her punch with a kick. Sai then did a back kick, causing Ino to stumble a bit. She knew Sai was good at taijutsu, but she never knew he could hit so hard.

Ino backed away from Sai, creating some distance between them.

"Ino!"

Ino felt a pain on the back of her head and fell to the floor. She then faded into darkness.

* * *

"When did Sai create a clone?" asked a confused Lee

"It was when he threw the smoke bombs," explained Shikamaru, "He created a clone to hide somewhere while Sai faced Ino in taijutsu. The clone appeared from the ground when Ino created some distance between them. From there, the clone used doton to appear behind Ino. That's how she got knocked out."

"So, Sai has doton jutsus. That's good to know," said a smirking Tayaka.

Naruto kept watching Sai as his clone turned into a black liquid. He wondered how Sai's clone was able to make a hole in the ground. A clone shouldn't be able to preform jutsu.

_'What is that black liquid?'_

**Temari VS Karui**

"Hmm. It's finally my turn," said Temari as she descended the stairs, "This will be an easy fight."

Karui walked down the steps without another word.

"Who do you think is gonna win?" asked Tayaka.

Naruto shrugged and watched intensely at Karui.

* * *

"Begin."

Karui inspected Temari.

_'She has a fan. Is she a futon user?'_

Karui knew she needs to be close range with Temari once she saw the fan. She needed to defeat her before she opens it.

Karui immediately grabbed her katana and rushed Temari.

Temari's eyes widened at the speed Karui possessed. The redhead was immediately in front of Temari. Temari used her fan to block Karui's slashes.

_'She's fast, but I need her to be farther away.'_

Temari saw an opening and kicked Karui on the ribs. She jumped back and made sure there was a distance between them.

She opened her fan and embedded it into the ground, hiding from Karui. She needed to distract her using a clone.

Forming hand signs, Temari made a clone. The clone jumped out of the fan and started making hand signs while running towards Karui. Karui used this opportunity to slash Temari only for it to fade like an illusion.

**" Ninpo: Kamaitachi no Jutsu! (Ninja Art: Wind Scythe Jutsu!)."**

Karui became engulfed in the jutsu. The jutsu lifted her into the air and gave her deep cuts. The pain was so much that she ended up passing out in the middle of the jutsu.

When the jutsu finished, Temari let Karui crash to the ground.

Before she landed on the ground, her sensei caught her in his arms.

* * *

"Her skills with the katana were incredible, but with the fan protecting Temari, she didn't have a chance in winning the match," said Naruto.

"Karui was fast, but she had some opening that Temari was able to use. If Karui was able to hide them, she could've won the match. She was smart in trying to fight Temari in a close-range battle since it's evident that Temari was a long-distance fighter," stated Shizuka.

The screen started selecting the next competitors at random.

"Hey, Naruto. Who do you think is gonna go against the team from Otogakure?"

Naruto glanced at the team that came from Otogakure. None of them had fought yet, but Naruto was curious about the abilities of the bandaged shinobi and his gauntlet.

"No idea."


	18. Chapter 18

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 18: Preliminaries Part II

**Haku VS Tsuch Kin**

"I was not expecting this match," spoke Tayaka with wide eyes.

The genin was curious about what Kin was able to do. Some weren't able to see what she could so in the forest.

"Haku."

Haku looked to his left to see Naruto walking to him.

"Good luck, dude."

Naruto gave Haku a bump on the shoulder and left. Haku gave Naruto a nod and headed down the steps.

"Naruto, did you just call Haku a dude and hit her shoulder." ask a confused Tayaka.

"You do know that Haku is a boy, right?"

Tayaka and Shizuka paled at the response.

Everything made more sense.

They thought about how many guys they killed in front of him. The sacred body parts they removed from some of the men in Nami no Kuni.

_'Poor Haku.' _they both thought.

* * *

Kin smirked in front of Haku.

"Begin."

Before Kin could attack, Haku spoke.

"Please forfeit. I wish to cause no harm."

Kin chuckled and glared at the boy.

"You'll be finished before you can even hurt me."

Kin threw senbon needles at Haku, only for ice senbons to counter them, causing them to land uselessly on the floor.

Kin looked wide eyes at Haku.

Looking at the ground, Haku spotted senbons. The bells attached to them frozen.

"I warned you. Gomenasai."

Haku used her hand and launched senbons that pierced different parts of Kin's body.

Kin tried to dodge and counter, but it was futile. Haku had fired too many senbons. She was able to launch some senbons with bells attached to them. They landed on the wall behind Haku. Smirking, Kin tugged on her ninja wires but was shocked when no sounds came out.

"That won't work," spoke Haku in a calming tone. He knew what Kin was trying to do. When it came to senbons, Haku was an expert. When he saw the bells, his instincts kept flaring.

Haku threw more senbons causing Kin to have more needles to pierce her body. She gritted her teeth.

How was he able to throw so many senbons? How did he stop the bells?

Having no other choice, Kin pulled out a kunai and started to run to Haku.

_'Maybe he's only a long-ranged fighter.'_

Haku only shook his head. He decided to use his speed and meet Kin face to face.

Kin was taken aback by Haku's speed.

She was kicked in the gut by Haku. She couldn't believe the speed Haku processed.

In an instant, her world turned black.

"The winner is Haku."

* * *

_'Haku showed his speed, but I'm glad he was discreet when using his kekkei genkai.'_ thought Zabuza.

_'So, Haku does have a kekkei genkai. That makes things harder.' thought Tayaka._

"I didn't expect that. That was entertaining." said Naruto in a calm voice.

Yugao raised an eyebrow. She had a suspicion her genin team are hiding secrets from her again.

"Kakashi were you able to see anything?" asked Asuma.

Kakashi kept his eye on Haku. He wished he had his Saringan on for that fight.

"No."

The screen on the board started shuffling again as Haku came back to his heam. Shikamaru eyed the boy suspiciously while Neji narrowed his eyes.

The board stopped and showed who will fight in the next match.

**Akimichi Chōji VS Namikaze Uzumaki Mito**

"Troublesome, you have to fight her of all people," said Shikamaru while patting Chōji.

Chōji was already upset about not being able to eat, but now he was intimidated by his opponent. Chōji always lost to Mito when they were growing up. Now, he was going to lose to her again.

"Maybe I should forfeit," said a sad Chōji.

Asuma took this as a sign to persuade Chōji to fight.

"That's too bad, Chōji. I was going to invite you to an all you can eat restaurant once everyone fought, but I guess only Ino and Shikamaru are going to eat the food."

When Asuma finished talking, Chōji felt fired up and ready to fight Mito to the ground.

"ALL YOU CAN EAT!"

* * *

Mito saw the fire in Chōji eyes as he jumped off the railing and landed on the arena.

_'His motivation was food?'_

She couldn't believe her eyes, but she decided to keep her opinion to herself and prepared for Chōji's attack.

She was right when Chōji started to use a bizarre jutsu that made him expand into a giant rolling ball.

**"Baika no Jutsu! (Expansion Jutsu)."**

Chōji tried to run Mito over, but Mito easily dodged him. Deciding she had enough, Mito prepared to use the technique Tunsde taught her.

Turning her hand into a fist, She cocked back her arm and used her ungodly strength to punch Chōji into the wall. However, she was surprised that her arm sunk into his body.

She knew that Chōji must have felt some pain. She didn't want to hurt her friend by increasing the power, so she deiced to used her chains.

Without a word, Mito's chains erupted from her stomach and into the ground. They quickly wrapped around Chōji, halting his movements.

It took a while, but Chōji simmered down until his jutsu was no more. The chains were still around him until he passed out from exhaustion.

"Winner, Uzumaki Mito."

* * *

Naruto decided that now was the perfect opportunity to talk to the sensei of the Kumo team.

He walked towards the other side of the stairs where team Kumo had been the entire time.

Naruto looked straight into the eyes of the Kumo sensei.

"Parden me, but my name is Naruto, he said while looked into the man's eyes, "If you don't mind, I would like to know your name too."

At this point, Shoma looked at the Kumo sensei with narrowed eyes and a scowl. He then looked at his opponent as she walked down to the arena.

The sensei looked at Naruto with a smile.

"I'm da rappin' Killer Bee!" he rapped.

Naruto nodded and stared into his eyes, "It was a pleasure, Killer Bee."

Naruto walked back to his spot where his team was and hopped on the railing. He can feel people staring at him, but he was too busy wondering about Killer Bee and his nine swords.

* * *

**Terasaki Shoma VS Samui**

"Now the fun is beginning," said Naruto in a monotoned voice.

Shizuka nodded and focused on the battle ground. Tayaka started to come closer to the railing. When the senseis saw this, the atmosphere changed.

"Shoma."

The boy turned to Naruto with determination.

"Good luck."

Nodding, Shoma started making his way to the stairs.

* * *

Shoma looked at Samui and wonder how skilled she was with the blade behind her back.

"Begin."

Nobody made a move.

* * *

"You have to hand it to him," said Shizuka, "He's getting better."

Genma chuckled at her.

"After the friendly match we had with your team, Ryu and Ami had taken their careers more seriously. Shoma is determined to face you, Naruto."

Naruto nodded and watched the match with his utmost concentration. He had a sinking feeling.

* * *

Shoma decided to start by charging at Samui.

Samui was surprised at his speed.

Shoma smirked and punched Samui in the face. The girl had the air taken out of him. Sliding backward, Samui tried to grab her sword.

Shoma was grinning at Samui. He wasn't going to let Samui use her sword. Naruto had asked Samui's sensei for his name, which meant that the man caught his interest.

Samui had that man as his sensei.

Therefore, anyone who caught Naruto's attention was a possible threat.

Samui was getting irritated.

Shoma didn't give her a chance to grab her sword.

She had no choice but to engage in a taijutsu match until she figures out a way to defeat him.

* * *

"Shoma is cautious of Samui. That's something I wasn't expecting." said Naruto.

"Why weren't you expecting it?" asked Genma.

"I'm assuming, since Samui is a cloud ninja, Shoma decided it was best to be cautious. Shoma is someone who has a plan created in his head for any situation. Even if he knows nothing about his opponent, Shoma has a strategical mind. His plan for Samui is to engage in taijutsu so he can prevent her from using his sword." said Naruto, "It's like when Ami tried to prevent Shikamaru from using his clan's signature jutsu."

"Why doesn't Shoma want Samui to use her sword?" asked Sai

"It's because of his sensei carrying seven swords." said Shizuka.

Naruto nodded in agreement. He knew Shizuka would know why Shoma was preventing it.

"Team 6 occasionally fights us in the training ground when Yu-sensei and Genma sensei want to analyze us. It helps them decide what a team member needs more practice on and helps them find any errors that need to be corrected." said Tayaka.

"Ever since our first match, Shoma was determined to beat me for humiliating him in front of Ami and Ryu." said Naruto with a sigh.

"When Naruto asked for the name of Samui's sensei, Shoma knew he needs to be careful of her kenjutsu." concluded Shizuka.

"The problem is that Shoma is going to have a harder time defeating Samui. They seem to be equal in taijutsu, but Samui has already discovered a way to end the match. Look." said Naruto while pointing to the battle.

"Is that?"

* * *

Shoma had the advantage of taijutsu against Samui.

Since Shoma was faster with hits, Samui has to be on the defense.

Suddenly, Shoma started to sweat. Samui was slowly becoming up to par with him. Every time he tried to strike Samui, he felt his movements becoming more restrained.

It wasn't until he tried to kick her that he noticed the ninja cords.

Out of instinct, Shoma jumped away from Samui. He noticed that his arms and legs had wire wrapped around him.

Before he could take them off, Samui used a lightning jutsu to electrocute Shoma.

"Agh!"

Shoma ended up on the ground, looking like burnt toast.

"The winner is Samui."

* * *

"Who do you think will be the next match?" asked Tayaka.

"It'll be a shock if it were Lee and Naruto." said Shizuka.

The screen was already selecting the next competitors.

**Dosu VS Hyuga Neji**

"So, he's my opponent after all," Neji said while glaring at Dosu.

Dosu narrowed his eyes at Neji.

You can practically feel the sparks flying from their eyes.

Hinata walked towards her cousin.

"Nii-san, be careful."

"Don't worry, Hinata-sama, I will finish this fight quickly."

* * *

Dosu waited patiently for his next victim to arrive.

_'That guy.'_

He remembered clearly about their confrontation.

He knew he should be cautious around the genin after what happened with Sasuke.

Their mission was so simple, but they didn't expect other teams that wanted to help Sasuke. He also wondered why the boy has a curse mark on his next. His thought became dark once he saw Orochimaru disappear.

They had one mission in the exams and failed.

Orochimaru trusted them with the task, but he ended up beaten by his target. He will show Orochimaru that he is capable of completing the mission and will make sure the snake knows his value.

_'He wants Sasuke; I'll give him the brat. That will remind him of who I am!'_

Neji walked towards his opponent and narrowed his eyes at Dosu.

_'My byakugan was able to find storage of charka coming from the gauntlet.'_

"Begin."

As soon as the words said, Neji got into his clan's taijutsu stance. He activated his byakugan and looked a Dosu with a frown.

Dosu prepared for Neji's attack and smirked at him. He won't be able to touch him as long as he had his gauntlet ready. Neji can't black his ears from his sound. He already won this battle for all he knows.

Neji rushed Dosu while he prepared to used the gauntlet.

Dosu flicked his gauntlet to produce sound waves to hurt Neji's ear. Neji recoiled and fell to the ground.

Dosu looked at Neji with distaste.

However, Dsou's eyes widened when a large chunk of rock replaced him.

"You are now in my range!"

Dosu quickly turned around to see that Neji was right behind him.

Dosu flicked his gauntlet to produce sound waves to hurt Neji's ear. Neji recoiled and fell to the ground.

Dosu looked at Neji with distaste.

However, Dsou's eyes widened when a large chunk of rock replaced him.

"You are now in my range!"

Dosu quickly turned around to see that Neji was right behind him.

**"Jukenho: Hakke Rokujuyon Sho. (Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)."**

Neji appeared in front of Dosu and started striking his tenketsu points.

**"2 palms."**

**"4 Palms."**

**"8 Palms."**

**"16 Palms."**

**"32 Palms."**

**"64 Palms!"**

When Neji's attack ended, Dosu was on the floor, barely breathing.

Neji rose from his stance and looked at Dosu.

"I believe I won, proctor."

Hayate walked towards Dosu and saw him passed out.

"Winner, Hyuga Neji."

* * *

Naruto watched as Dosu was carried to the infirmary by the Konoha medical nin.

"Hmph! I thought the fight would last longer." He also thought that Dosu would win since many of the Hyuga families were considered close-range fighters. Neji used substitution with the rubble from Mito's match to his advantage. By replacing himself with it, he was able to catch Dosu off guard and attack from behind. Once Dosu turned around to face Neji, the Hyuga was declared the winner of the match.

Shizuka even had doubts that Neji would win the fight, but the branch member was more skilled than they both thought.

Shizuka looked over at Tayaka and saw that she had deactivated her eyes.

She was looking out for her the entire time the match was happening. Luckily for her, everyone was so engrossed by the Neji and Dosu that nobody paid attention to them.

She wanted to scold Tayaka for activating her eyes, but she knew that Tayaka wanted to see what a Hyuga was capable of accomplishing.

**Namikaze Uzumaki Nawaki VS Tenten**

"Finally, It's my turn to fight!" yelled Nawaki as he jumped off the railing, much to his sensei's protest.

He landed on the ground with a toothy grin as he waved at Hinata. Hinata blushed and returned the gesture with shyness.

Tenten walked down the steps and guarded herself. She knew her luck in beating the blue-eyed blonde was low, but she will make sure to advance to the finals.

"Begin."

**"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Jutsu!)."**

Four clones appeared in front of Tenten.

She was startled that these clones were different from the regular clones they taught in the academy.

The clones tried to ambush Tenten, but she was able to rid them with her kunais.

Nawaki growled that his clone couldn't touch her. He made twelve more and started to form his new plan.

They tried to attack Tenten, but like before, Tenten got rid of them. She shot her kunai to clone that was two feet away from her, striking him in the heart.

Once all the clones where gone, Tenten was left alone in the arena.

Confused, Tenten looked around for Nawaki.

**"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu. (Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu)."**

Instantly, Tenten was dragged underground with her head remaining above the ground. Nawaki appeared back above the surface and kicked Tenten in the forehead, causing her to become unconscious.

* * *

"Okay, that was the second-fastest battle in this entire match. Neji's is first," said Mito

Mina thgouht for a momnent.

Almost all the battles were fast, but not all of them. That's her opinion, at least.

Gai looked at Nawaki with a frown on his face. That kick was too brutal for Tenten. He didn't have to put so much power into it.

**Aburame Shino VS Kankuro**

Kankuro stretched his body and started walking towards the steps.

"It's about time. I was starting to get frustrated watching these battles," said Kankuro while walking down the steps.

Shino started to walk to the arena floor in silence.

"Finally, I get to see what is the power of the Aburame clan," said Shizuka while looking at Shino. She wasn't going to miss this chance.

* * *

"Begin."

Kankuro smirked at Shino as he took off the odd bandaged thing from his back. He put it on the ground and started to rush Shino.

Kankuro started to engage Shino in taijutsu by throwing a punch. However, Shino easily blocked it by just raising his arm. Afterward, Shino grabbed the arm and gave Kankuro a high kick to the chin.

He looked up at Kankuro and instantly backed away from him.

Kakuro stood and smirked at Shino.

"What's the matter, afraid to fight me?"

Shino used a finger and raised his glasses. He looked Kankuro in the eyes and started to talk.

"It's strange," he said, "I find that you are an impressive opponent. Especially with how you use your charka in battle."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Kankuro while folding his arms.

"What I meant is that you aren't even human, just a toy," said Shino.

Kankuro narrowed his eyes at Shino.

_'Did he find out?'_

"Let's continue, shall we."

Shino instantly rushed Kankuro. Kankuro smirked at his opponent and prepared to end the fight. Unfortunately, Kankuro was unable to move.

_'Nani!'_

Before knew it, Shino kicked Kankuro square in the face.

* * *

"Something isn't right," said Naruto as he narrowed his eyes at Kankuro. He could have sworn he saw something fall from his face.

"He's from Sunagakure, Shizuka. Do you know anything else from there that can help?" asked Tayaka.

Shizuka looked from Naruto to Tayaka.

"I read some stuff about the five great nations, but I don't know anything about this," said Shizuka threw gritted teeth. Shizuka was someone who rarely became agitated, but when it came to not knowing something, it bugged her like an itch you can't reach.

She's read many things from the village. Some even forbidden, but she had no idea what Kankuro or Shino are doing. Shino because he's from one of the most reclusive clans in the village beside the Hyuga and Kakuro because she knew nothing about the bandaged thing on the floor.

* * *

Kankuro's head was hanging down along while pieces were coming off of his face. He cursed as he was still unable to move.

Shino ran around Kankuro and sped to the bandaged tool on the ground. Before Kankuro knew it, Shino kicked him on the ribs.

Everyone genin, except Naruto, gasped while they heard a noise coming out of the bandaged tool.

Shino rid of the bandages to reveal another Kankuro.

Kankuro stood and leaped away from Shino. He was using on hand to hold his ribs while scowling at Shino.

"How! How did you know my trick?" demanded a frustrated Kankuro. Kankuro kneeled on the ground as he started to feel weak. It felt like his chakra was disappearing.

"I'm apart of the Aburame clan of this village. We never underestimate any opponent," said Shino cooly, "Why don't you look at your hands. I'm sure that will clear everything."

Kankuro glanced down to see bugs on his hands. He quickly glanced at his puppet. He was barely able to see it before, but now he can see that it's covered with bugs in all its joints.

"When were you able to tell it wasn't human? How am I covered in bugs?"

"When you tried to attack me with the puppet, I blocked the punch and placed my bugs into it. When I realized it wasn't human, I grabbed the arm and discreetly implanted more bugs into the puppet,"elaborated Shino, "Once I knew it wasn't you at all, I had my bugs find you by eating away the chakra they found. The chakra strings you used were eaten by my special bugs that consume chakra. Once the bugs ate the chakra strings, they attached themselves to you and started eating your chakra, weakening you."

Kankuro ended was starting to pass out. He glanced at Shino one last time. Before he passed out, Shino decided to say one final thing.

"You were so busy focusing on me and thinking why your puppet couldn't work that you never notice my plan. I even made sure that when I kick you, I implanted more bugs one you."

"Damn you, brat!"

Kankuro passed out on the floor. Shino's bugs started to retreat into his body. The ones that were in the puppet came to Shino, causing the puppet to fall on the ground.

"Winner, Aburame Shino."

* * *

"Guys," called Tayaka.

Naruto and Shizuka turned to Tayaka as she walked closer to them.

"I used my eyes. I saw that Shino's body is full of bugs. It's almost like a nest of some kind," Tayaka said while shivering. She wasn't afraid of bugs, but to know that he had them living in his body was freaky.

"So that the power the clan possesses. The Aburame clansmen have the ability to used bugs in different ways. It seems like a useful ability for many reasons," said Shizuka in wonder, " That guy, Kankuro, is specialized in master puppetry jutsus that Suna must only possess. Interesting."

Naruto didn't care so much about Kankuro. He lost, which means that he won't be a problem in the exams anymore.

He watched as the screen started to move again, selecting the next people to participate in the next match.


	19. Chapter 19

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 19: Preliminaries Part III

"There are only ten of us left." stated Naruto.

The screen finally stopped and revealed the next competitors.

**Tsurugi Misumi VS Shizuka**

"Yes, it's our turn again!"

Shizuka smiled at her flamboyant friend. Tayaka has always cheered for her teammates.

"Your just happy because you can be loud again," Naruto claimed with a sigh.

A tick mark appeared on Tayaka's head, but before she gets a hit on Naruto, Yugao blocked her path.

"That's enough, Tayaka." Yūgao said while turning to her other student," You should start heading down."

Shizuka nodded and was about to leave before Tayaka pulled her into a hug.

"You got this!"

Naruto started chuckling and nodded his head to Shizuka. He knew he didn't need to worry about her. Shizuka was the smartest out of all of them. He always liked the way she accomplishes things involving her interests and focus. He knew that she's be in the finals because of this.

"I would say good luck, but I know you don't need it." Naruto said with a smirk.

She hid her blush.

"You better not worry," she replied.

She thought she hid her blush, but Tayaka and Yūgao saw right through it.

Shizuka walked down the stairs and saw that her opponent was waiting for her impatiently.

* * *

"Begin."

When the words left Hayate's mouth, Shizuka instantly jumped on the statue. She needed to gain distance from him.

"I'm warning you right now that I'm not like Yoroi. I don't get careless with gakis like yourself. When I use my jutsu, you'll get hurt," said Misumi.

Shizuka smirked at the older teen.

"I should warn you that the arrogant people are the ones to die first. Especially the ones who believe I'm just a gaki."

She decided to test him out before making a real move on Misumi.

Taking out six kunai, she threw them at Misumi.

The teenager used his kunai to block the projectiles. He needed to get closer to her to win the battle.

Shizuka needed to be cautious around Misumi because of Yoroi.

During Sasuke's battle, Yoroi just needed to be in physical contact with Sasuke to drain his chakra. She needs to find out if Misumi is like his teammate.

She kept throwing kunais and shurikens at the teen. Misumi was running towards her while blocking all the weapons she threw. When he jumped up to meet Shizuka, he stretched his arms and grabbed her by the arms.

Using his strength, Misumi picked up Shizuka from the statue and threw her down to the ground with him.

Shizuka landed head first to the ground. The floor cracked and burst open.

Nobody could see the two shinobi because of the dust and smoke covering the arena.

* * *

"A shinobi that can stretch their body?"

Naruto had to calm Zoro down.

When Misumi stretched his arms, Zoro was convinced Misumi is the reincarnation of Money D. Luffy.

_'He's not a descendant of Luffy, you baka!'_

_'Luffy had kids.'_

_'Did they eat the fruit?!'_

_'No.'_

_'Then it's not him!'_

"Looks like Shizuka-san lost." said Nawaki.

"I wouldn't count her out." Naruto said with a smirk.

* * *

Shizuka was able to throw one of her black smoke bombs before Misumi was able to slam her to the ground.

She was also able to break from Misumi's girp a few seconds before hitting the ground. She used her hurricane kick to create the hole in the ground and create a substitution to take her place.

Misumi walked towards the crater that contained her substition.

When the smoke cleared, Shizuka's substitution looked knocked out.

"I believe I won."

Before Hayate can declare Misumi the winner, Shizuka fell from the roof of the arena and kicked Misumi in the face.

He flew back from the strength of the kick. His head slammed the wall opposite of the statue. Misumi's body fell to the ground with his back on the ground.

Many of the genin flinched when they saw Misumi's face.

His nose was broke will blood bursting from the center. The left side of his head was oozing blood too.

The Shizuka on the ground turned into a large piece of rubble, clearly a substitution.

"The winner of the match is Shizuka."

* * *

"You should never count her out. She is the smartest one of us all, said Naruto while Shizuka walked up the steps.

"Yeah, she's even more stubborn than me when it comes to matches." said Tayaka.

The screen started spinning.

Tayaka was pretty sure that if Kiba were here, he would've pissed his pants.

**Uzumaki Namikaze Mina VS Hyuga Hinata**

Everyone except the foreign ninja was quiet when they saw the names for the next match.

Of course, this didn't stop from Tayaka muttering, "The battle of the besties."

Yugao and Shizuka didn't stop Naruto from hitting her on the top of her head with his bokken.

"Even I'm not dumb enough to make say that."

Usually, Naruto would make a sarcastic comment, but he knew about Hinata and Mina's friendship.

He used to be envious of Hinata when they were younger because of how much time they spent together. Mina was usually a busy person, but Hinata was the only one able to help her with studies.

Naruto had tried, but he even got a became bored. That causes Mina to study without his presence. The fact that at the time, Naruto was the heir to the Namikaze clan didn't help her either.

Mina looked over at Hinata with worry. She didn't want to harm her best friend.

Before she can protest, Hinata looked into her eyes.

"I'm going to fight you, Mina."

Hinata walked down the steps until she was in front of Hayate.

Everyone was shocked because she didn't stutter. Hinata was known for her stutter. She just spoke with confidence.

Team Yū knew that Mina would win, but the confidence radiating from Hinata was entertaining. They wonder how long she'd last.

"You can do it, Hinata-chan!" exclaimed Nawaki.

Now determined to fight her best friend, Mina walked down the steps.

* * *

"Begin."

When Hayate said those words, Hinata rushed Mina.

Mina quickly used this to time to back away from Hinata. Her best friend had a fire in her eyes. When Hinata stopped her advances, Mina stopped retreating.

"Mina, your my best friends, and I like you." stated a panting Hinata, "But, I want you to fight me. I want to show my strength. I want to prove to everyone that I'm strong."

Hinata reactivated her byakugan and charged at Mina.

Mina was awestruck at Hinata's words and decided to take her more seriously.

She started throwing kunai at Hinata, but the girl was able to dodge and deflect them. Minak knew that she couldn't fight her in close range because of her ability to stop her flow of chakra.

She tried long-ranged combat, but Hinata was able to block every kunai and shuriken thrown.

Hinata was finally able to reach Mina.

"**Hakke Rokujuyon Sho. (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)."**

* * *

"I have to admit. Hinata has come far from where she was at the Academy."

Tayaka ignored her sensei.

Her focus was on Hinata. Naruto had advised her to pay attention to the matches involving the Hyuga. She was relieved that everyone's attention has been on the competitors.

She has gathered so much information. Her eye didn't allow her to copy, but they allowed her to observe. That is enough for Tayaka to be satisfied.

"Tayaka, deactivate them." whispered Shizuka.

When she deactivated them, Kakashi revealed his sharingan.

She had to thank Shizuka for the save. She didn't like to use her eyes around sharingan and byakugan users.

* * *

Mina was on the floor, unable to move. Hinata was standing right in front of her. The girl had a mixture of happiness and sadness in her eyes.

Mina understood why she was sad and happy. Her sadness is because she doesn't like seeing her friends like this. The happiness was because she thinks she beat her.

Using the chakra from the stupid fox, Mina was able to move again.

Hinata's eye widened at the inhuman chakra that Mina was dispursing. She needed to cover her eyes when the chakra morphed into a fox. Nobody was able to see the fox except Kakashi and Hinata

Mina used her speed to punch Hinata in the stomach.

She didn't want to hurt her, but Minato and Kushina would be disappointed if she wasn't in the final part of the chunin exams.

Hinata was on the floor, her conscious fading.

Mina walked over to Hinata and got on her knees.

"Gomenasai, Hinata."

Hinata smiled at her without a care.

"I'm happy for us. We both were able to accomplish something."

Hinata lost consciousness and was taken by the medical team for treatment.

* * *

"Oh, I cannot wait for my turn. Today has been so youthful seeing everyone fight!" yelled Lee as the screen was spinning.

"There's only six people left. Naruto, you have a high probability of fighting a ninja from another village." said Shikuza as she kept kicking her legs in the air.

Naruto narrowed his eyes when he saw a gleam coming from Gaara's eyes. The fight had caused the boy to stare at Mina. Naruto felt a shiver run down his spine when Gaara's gaze was still on Mina when she walked up the stairs. He looked scared and insane, but Naruto was able to see what was hidden underneath his gaze. It was something he knew too well at this point in his life.

**Fukui Ryu VS Roronoa Naruto**

"I guess its my turn."

"Aren't you going to wish him luck?" asked Kakashi while watching Naruto walk down the steps.

Yūgao sighed and looked down at her genin.

"No."

She knew him well enough to know that Naruto will win this fight.

Yūgao looked at Ryu , who had a scowl on his face. The raven haired boy has always had a grudge against Naruto for unknown reasons.

She briefly wondered what Genma could've taught the boy.

* * *

Ryu looked at Naruto with determination.

Naruto sighed and motioned Hayate to start the match.

"Begin."

Nobody moved.

"Before we start, I want you to fight me with those swords," said Ryu.

Naruto shook his head and brought out his bokken.

"No, Ryu, but I'm not going to use my blade on you. You are a shinobi of this village, which means you are my comrade. I will only use a katana if you push me to use it during the battle," Naruto said with narrowed eyes. He wasn't going to use it unless it was necessary.

Ryu scowled at Naruto while pulling out the two swords he had on his back.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, Naruto!"

Naruto motioned Ryu to come to him.

Ryu ran towards him and swung his blade at him. The sword on his right hand swung at an upward slash with a strong force. Naruto used his bokken to block the upward strike from Ryu.

Naruto knew that Ryu's strikes were like a hefty butcher knife. His strikes were direct and powerful. It wasn't graceful or gentle.

Ryu used his other blade to sever Naruto's right arm, but Naruto kicked Ryu's wrist, causing the sword to embed itself into the floor.

Naruto grabbed the blade and used it to flick the other sword away.

He twisted his body and ducked. Using his bokken, Naruto hit Ryu's ankles hard, causing Ryu to fall on the ground. Naruto used Ryu's sword and stabbed Ryu's thigh. He made sure the blade is embedded into the floor too.

"Aghh!"

"Ryu, we've told you a million times that you can't use your blades in this manner. It's shameful. You kept using them sloppily. I was able to subdue you effortlessly. May that stabbremind you about this," Naruto said.

While motioning Hayate to come, he said," Ryu, if you ever face me in a fight again, you better know how to wield it properly."

Ryu cursed at himself and Naruto as Hayate declared Naruto as the winner.

"The winner is Roronoa Naruto."

* * *

"Hey, Yūgao."

Yūgao looked at Asuma. He had been bugging her about her genin team in the past, but she always told him that they're very introverted.

"Yes?"

"Have you considered having your team take an IQ test?"

Yūgao shook her head. She knew her team was smarter than kids their age. Shizuka more so than anyone.

"With your permission, can I have your team take that test?"

"If they let you. I don't mind."

Ausma already had an idea. Tomorrow he will pick up the three of them with Gai. Then, he's going to trick them into taking the same test that determine Shikamaru's IQ.

He nodded at Gai.

"You could have finished earlier!"

"Don't yell at me, Tayaka," said an agitated Naruto.

The screen picked the next competitors.

**Chōjūrō VS Abumi Zaku**

* * *

"Begin."

"Might as well give up now." Zaku said confidently.

The aura around Chōjūrō suddenly changed. At first, he looked nervous, but now he wore a calm face.

"I can't do that. Withdraw." Chōjūrō said with a small stutter.

Zaku shook his head and prepared to attack Chōjūrō.

Using one of his arms, Zaku thrust his palm out to Chōjūrō. He rushed Chōjūrō until he was next to him.

**"Air Slicer!"**

Chōjūrō pulled out his sword and blocked Zaku's attack. He ended up rolling back a few feet.

Zaku was smirking, thinking that Chōjūrō wouldn't get back up. He was shocked when the boy stood and zoomed towards him. Zaku never saw someone move so fast. Using his sword, he hit Zaku above the head with a furious force. Chōjūrō stood and placed his wrapped sword on his back.

Hayate walked to the crater and saw a dead Zaku bleeding from his craked scull. The sight was appalling to many of the genin. The boy never stood a chance.

"Winner, Chōjūrō."

* * *

**Rock Lee VS Gaara**

Team Yū was shocked after looking at the match.

Naruto knew about the inner gates, but he didn't think they'd be this strong. Naruto couldn't believe that Lee had so much power. It wasn't enough to beat Gaara, but it was superb. Lee had gained a lot of respect from Naruto.

Shizuka was upset that Gaara crushed Lee's legs. Without them, there was no hope in Lee becoming a ninja again. Tsunade was his only hope.

Tayaka, Haku, and Naruto had their attention on Gaara. They saw a familiar look in his eyes that made them feel nostalgic. They saw the look of pain.

"The preliminaries for the third exam is now completed. Will the winners please walk down the steps and face the Hokage."

The matches walked down until they were in front of the statue.

Hayate stood next to his fellow proctors while the Hokage faced the genin who will fight in the finals.

"I congratulate everyone who has made it to the third part of the exam. In this part, you will be showing your skills in front of others in our arena. Many people will be participating in this event, including your village's daimyo. You all will be representing your village in this event."

When Minato finished speaking, he told each genin to take a slip of paper from the box Hayate was holding.

"I got the 15," said Naruto in a bored tone.

"I have 10!," yelled Tayaka in excitement.

"I have 11," said Shizuka

When everyone finished saying their number, the Hokage nodded at Anko to flip the clipboard she held.

**Gaara VS Temari**

**Samui VS Sai**

**Haku VS Aburame Shino**

**Uzumaki Namikaze Mina VS Uzumaki Namikaze Mito**

**Uchiha Sasuke VS Uchiha Tayaka**

**Shizuka VS Nara Shikamaru**

**Uzumaki Namikaze Nawaki VS Hyuga Neji **

**Roronoa Naruto VS Chojuro VS Omoi**

"Hokage-sama, why does the eighth fight have three people?" asked a confused Mito.

"The rules state that no competitor is allowed to be given a pass. Since there Omoi has nobody to compete against, the rules automatically state that he is to fight in the last battle." stated Minato, "In the ninja world, there is always a chance you must fight more opponents than planned. This match is no different."

"Now, please leave with your sensei's to prepare for the final match. I expect to see great things from each of you." stated Minato as he disappears in a flash.

"I won't be surprised if he calls me for a meeting." Naruto started while using his fingers as quotation marks.

_'Naruto, focus. After observing the matches, you know you have more work on your hands. Especially with that kid with glasses. He's going to be a problem.'_

_'I know Zoro, but remember that I got to train in the cave. That means I need to sneak away from Hayate and Yūgao-sensei's radar.'_

_'I'll plan something out.'_

Naruto cut off the connection when he saw Yugao headed his way. No doubt, the team's fights have piqued her curiosity.

"Let's go to Kumiko's. We need to talk."

* * *

**Kumiko's**

Team Yū is sitting in their usual table.

Yūgao was looking intently at her genin team, particularly Naruto.

"So, now that we finished our meals, I think we should discuss what happened during the preliminaries."

Naruto twitched.

Naruto knows he's fucked because Yūgao gave him the _'tell me now' _stare.

"Let's talk about how friendly you are with Zabuza and the ex-hunter from the exams."

Naruto groaned, but Shizuka decided to answer.

"We encounter them leaving Nami no Kuni while you were passed out. They were leaving after discovering about Gato's betrayal. They decided to return to Kiri after being asked for help from the revolutionaries."

Shizuka decided to tweak the truth. If Yūgao found out about them killing the thugs, she'd no doubt report to the Hokage. That job wasn't in the mission description.

Yūgao saw the truth in her eyes and decided to accept the response for now.

"Okay, now let's talk about the one month break."

Before Yūgao could discuss her plan, Tayaka stopped her with her hand.

"Sorry sensei, but we already have it planned out." stated Tayaka, "Naruto is going to be training with Hayate since he is more knowledgeable in swords. I'm going to train with you since you have the qualities and strategize I lack severely. Finally, Shizuka is training with Anko because of their common specialties."

Yūgao smiled at Takyaka.

"You took the word right out of my mouth. Very well, we shall start tomorrow."

Naruto shook his head at Yūgao.

"Sorry sensei, but were starting next week. We have things we want to prepare for the third exam before training."

"Yeah, I want to read a special part of Shishu's scroll that he instructed me to read alone." stated Tayaka while holding out the scroll.

"I want to finish my new poison concoction and test it on an animal Naruto captured." stated Shizuka while holding out a blueprint to Yūgao," I want to run it by Anko when it's finished."

"I need to practice my new technique I want to finish before showing Hayate. I also want to know that the Hokage will want to talk with me tomorrow after what he saw in the exams today."

Yūgao sighed.

As much as she wanted to force them into training, this was their decision.

"Fine, but in a weeks, training will begin at sunrise."

"Hai, Yū-sensei." the three said in unison.

* * *

Gaara was sitting on a roof by himself. He stared at the moon as his beast became silent. It was the moon that calmed them and made it slumber in peace.

Gaara hugged his legs as he felt someone behind him.

"Quiet, it's sleeping."

The person behind him sat next to him, surprising Gaara .

"I have wanted to talk with you, Gaara," whispered Naruto.


	20. Chapter 20

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 20: Unwanted Encounters

Gaara was glad that his beast was asleep when Naruto came. If it waked up, Naruto would've been in danger like Lee.

He didn't want to hurt Naruto's friend, but the moment Lee made him bleed, the beast wanted blood. It wouldn't let him sleep unless he was satisfied. It only becomes silent when he's spilling blood or watches the moon.

"Aren't you scared of me after what I did to your friend? Are you here to kill me?" asked a confused Gaara while he looked at the moon.

"No, I'm not here to kill you. I admit, your power is terrifying, but I'm not scared," Naruto whispered, " I saw the look in your eyes. You didn't wish to harm Lee from the beginning, didn't you?"

Gaara shook his head.

"I didn't want to do this, but I was going crazy. It wanted me to prove my existence and kill," Gaara whispered, " During the exams, it kept raging at me to kill. I can't control it."

"What is it, Gaara? What is the beast you keep referring to me?"

Naruto already had a good idea, but he wanted to hear Gaara say it.

"It's a secret," said Gaara, "Only the Hokage and Kazekage know of it because the Fourth Hokage placed a seal detector as per our treaty with your village."

"So, you're the container of the one tails?"

Gaara was so shocked that he almost looked away from the moon.

"You know too much," he said through gritted teeth.

Naruto wasn't surprised that his guess was correct. It's only because of Shizuka that he knew that there are more tailed beasts out there. She found information two tailed beasts. Tayaka had guessed that there were nine, but Naruto skeptical. He's was glad that Shizuka was right about the tailed beast being sealed inside of Gaara. However, he was still worried about how Shizuka found this information on tailed beasts.

Naruto nodded, "You are right about that, but that's not why I'm here. I'm here to help you, Gaara. I'm here to help you live."

"I am living. I'm living for myself and Suna. I spill blood to please the beast and kill the enemies the Kazekage tasks me to eliminate. It's my only purpose."

Naruto pitied Gaara. If Gaara's beast bullies him to spill blood, then the Kazekage would be forced to keep Gaara in check. What has Suna done to him to make him obedient? What happened to Gaara that made him think that this is living?

He had so many questions.

He'll have to figure them out when he sees the boy again.

"That isn't living. You live by making your own happiness," whispered Naruto, " I have a goal to accomplish. I would give my life to fulfill it. Even if it meant leaving the village."

"What is your dream Gaara? To kill everything because of the hate for humanity? To be a weapon for Suna while a beast bullies you to insanity to kill? To create bonds that will fill you with love and strength? Why not take control for once and find yourself. Have a dream."

Gaara shook his head.

"That's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible."

"The Hokage made two seals. One is to strengthen the weak seal from Suna. After attacking your friend, the Hokage asked the Kazekage to allow him to make the seal stronger. He agreed. Now it just whispers, but I can still feel bloodlust. It's too much," said Gaara, "The other seal on my body has a tracker that allows anyone to be detected. The Kazekage always knows where I am, no matter the situation."

Naruto frowned when hearing about the Hokage's involvement with the seal because he wanted to try his fuinjutsu on Gaara, but he still can try to take away the tracker.

"I can help rid of the tracker, but I want to see the seal containing the beast."

Gaara finally looked away from the moon and looked in Naruto's eyes. He was surprised by the look in Naruto's eyes. It almost matched his own. The look of hate and sadness, but there was something else that Gaara couldn't place. It was something that overpowered the two emotions. His beast started to whisper inside his head again. The same beast that the his outo-san and the Kazekage claimed wasn't his mother.

"Come to my house the day before the exams to remove the tracker sealed in your body. Till then, think about what you want from life. Is it truly destruction? If your wish remains the same, then I know for a fact that it won't make you stronger. As for how I know, come two days before the exams so I can tell you about my experience. I promise to tell no lies."

"Why are you trying to help me?" Gaara asked while his beast tried shouting for blood, causing him flinch. The blonde didn't know him, but he is trying to help him. After everything he told Naruto, why does the blonde still try to help?

"Because I know to a small extent what it's like to in your shoes."

"Are you like me?" asked a confused Gaara.

Naruto didn't responded.

Naruto got up from where he was sitting and jumped off the roof, leaving Gaara alone with his thoughts.

_'Who are you, Roronoa Naruto? What makes you strong? What is your purpose?'_

* * *

**The Next Day**

Shizuka had woken up early to get some exercise before she started heading to the library to check out some books.

She planned to study the functions of poisonous animals.

She was jogging around the Hokage mountain when she ran into a running Gai.

"Ah, Shizuka-san! I see your spirit is very youthful today!"

She nodded at Gai but stopped running when Gai jumped in front of her.

"Yes, Gai-san?"

"Asuma and I require your assistance for a game Yūgao wanted you to partake in."

"Are Naruto and Tayaka also taking part in this event?" asked a weary Shizuka.

"Yosh! You are the only one left to arrive. I will take you to the Sarutobi mansion where Asuma and the other will be waiting."

Shizuka immediately followed Gai. If Naruto and Tayaka were already there, she should also be there.

When they arrived, Naruto was eating a chicken drumstick while Tayaka was eating onigiri. When she looked at Gai, she received a blueberry muffin.

"Now that everyone is here, I would like to start with the game that your sensei gave me permission to play with you three." stated Asuma as he set down three boxes.

"I only came because you promised to pay for our meal before the finals. I only hope it's not long."

"Naruto, I can assure you this won't take too long," said Asuma.

Nodding Naruto decided to partake in the game as a form of thank you.

"Alright, here is how we play the first game."

* * *

**Two Hours Later**

"I never want to play again." said an exasperated Tayaka.

After playing games with Gai and Asuma, everyone went their separate ways.

Tayaka went home to retrieve her pet dog, Kono.

She didn't usually keep pets, but Kono was an exception. The dog needs too much attention. Somehow, the dog would always get hurt. That's why she was taking the dog to the animal hospital located near the Inuzuka clan.

Tayaka also has an ulterior motive to visit the hospital.

When she arrived, she opened the door to find some animals locked up in cages.

She walked in front of the counter and ringed the bell on the desk.

Takaya saw one of the most beautiful women she knows in the Village.

"Hey, Hana-san!"

Hana smiled from the doorway. She has seen Tayaka often because the dog always ends up getting hurt. For some reason, Tayaka always seems so bright when she sees her.

"Hello, Tayaka-san. What seems to be the problem today?" asked Hana while she walked around the counter.

"When I got home, Koro ended up knocking over a glass flowerpot. I checked him to see if there were any injuries. He has some cuts on his leg and stomach."

Hana kneeled and checked Koro. Tayaka couldn't help but look at her form. She never felt such emotion when she saw the medical kunoichi. Hana was her first crush.

"It isn't a problem. It'll only take a few minutes. For now, you can wait here or feed my ninken since they take such a liking towards you."

The Haimaru Brothers are Hana's ninken. They particularly don't like many people Hana associates with, especially Nawaki. She remembers that Hana told Yugao about an incident involving Nawaki's pants being bitten on the butt.

Her ninken love team Yu. They always tackled Naruto and Shizuka, but Tayaka was licked when they spotted her.

She nodded at Hana and walked towards the dogs.

When they saw her walking towards them, they licked her lovingly.

After a few minutes passed, the entrance to the animal hospital was thrown open.

"Hana, It's time to hang out!"

Tayaka and the brothers could only sweatdrop when Anko burst into the building.

Hana walked out of the examination room with Kono. She looked annoyed at her friend's antics.

"Anko, please stop slamming the door open. Some on the animals don't like loud noises." scolded Hana.

Anko was about to say something when Tayaka caught her attention.

"Oh, what do we have here?" asked Anko in a purr.

Anko slowly walked over to Tayaka. She didn't flinch when the genin glared at her.

"I brought my dog to the hospital," said Tayaka while pointing to Kono.

She grabbed Kono's leash and stared at Hana.

"Thank you for treating him, Hana-san. I can always count on you."

Hana blinked at how the girl's tone changed a bit. Tayaka's eyes turned a bit dark and glazed as they stared at the older woman. She was glad that Hana couldn't see her eyes.

"It's no problem, Tayaka-chan."

Hana saw the light return to Tayaka's eyes as she bowed and left the store with a skip in her step.

"HAHAHA!"

Hana flinched when Anko started to laugh. What was so funny that she had to startle the animals?

"What's so funny?"

Anko gave her a look that called her stupid.

"You didn't notice the look on her face when you called her Tayaka-chan?" asked Anko in disbelief.

Hana didn't know where Anko was going with this, but she had a bad feeling that it involved Tayaka.

"Hana, I didn't think you were that dense. It's obvious by the way she's acting that the gaki has a crush on you."

Hana blinked and looked at Anko in disbelief.

"Don't be absurd, Anko. Tayaka doesn't have a crush on me."

Anko shook her head and headed out the door.

"I think I'll come back tomorrow. I have some business to finish."

Anko left the shop leaving a confused Hana.

_'She doesn't have a crush on me. Even if she did, things wouldn't work out.'_

* * *

Takaya was running down the street of the village.

She knew that the proctor was chasing her to gain information. If Naruto was right, then Anko was a lot like herself. That meant that Anko would want more details on her infatuation with Hana. She didn't miss the spark that lit the proctors eyes when she left the shop, meaning that the snake was probably chasing her now. She cursed under her breathe when she saw Anko coming from a few blocks away.

She walked into an ally and decided to use the Henge jutsu to escape Anko.

When she walked out of the ally, she looked like Iruka.

Walking back home, she ran into Anko.

"Hey, Iruka. Have you seen the genin from Yugao's team?"

Tayaka put a hand on her chin and made a thinking pose.

"Which one? I saw Naruto heading to the Hokage tower. Shizuka was walking with her mother in the shopping district."

"The only with the headband coving her eyes."

"Oh, I saw her hiding near the Hokage monument. She looked scared of something."

When he finished his sentence, Anko rushed to the Hokage mountain to find Tayaka. Once Anko was out of sight, Tyaka let out a laugh.

"Good luck trying to find me, Anko."

Tayaka decided to leave the Henge on until she got home.

* * *

**Village Streets**

Shizuka was walking down the street with Tokiwa.

After the 'playdate' with Gai and Asuma, Shizuka wanted to spend time with her closest friend. She walked to Tokiwa's apartment and asked if she could accompany her to the bakery.

"So, what's with you trying to spend more time with me?"

Shizuka sighed.

She knew that Tokiwa's days were number because of the poison in the woman's system from there travel to Konoha.

She had begged Tsunade to teach her about medicine so that she could find a way to treat Tokiwa, but the hag refused. She gave up asking after Tsunade informed her hospital staff to prohibit Shizuka from entering her office.

Ever since then, Shizuka had to rely on the library. When the available information wasn't enough to satisfy her, she started sneaking and stealing books from the prohibited parts of the library. She wasn't stupid, so she replaced the missing book with a fake. Once the information was written down, she would return the book to its rightful place on the shelves.

Then, she managed to sneak in the building that contained kinjutsu. She shook her head at how easily she snuck in by the small ventilation system. Still, there was no useful information so far on how to cure Tokiwa.

Shizuka knew she was getting close to finding a cure for Tokiwa, but she still needs more time. Unfortunately, it was running out.

"It's been a while since we spent time together. I figured since I have a month of no missions, I'd spend time with you. Is there something wrong with that?" asked Shizuka with a tilt of her head.

Tokiwa laughs at the cute expression Shizuka was showing.

"No, there's nothing wrong with that. I always enjoy spending time with my daughter."

She swallowed her laughter when Shizuka turned pink. The girl was just too cute. She'd miss seeing her like this.

Tokiwa wasn't an idiot. She also knows her days are numbered. The more she thought about it, the more depressed she became. Tokiwa wasn't ready to leave Shizuka. She had spent the majority of her life being with both Shizuka and the girl's mother.

When her mother passed away, she begged her to become Shizuka's new personal guardian. She immediately agreed with the request because she was in love with Shizuka's mother.

Before Shizuka was born, she would secretly date her mother. When she became pregnant after a man defeated her, Tokiwa agreed to become the woman's guardian. She loved the woman from a distance. When Shizuka's father died in combat, Tokiwa took care of the woman like she was her lover. Then, they did become lovers again.

When Shizuka was born, Tokiwa became attached and treated the girl as her daughter. Both Shizuka and Tokiwa had become inseparable since then.

Tokiwa silently asked her love for forgiveness. She couldn't protect Shizuka. Now, the only family Shizuka has is her sister, but she is at war in Nadeshiko. She was ordered by Shizuka's elder sister to take her away from the village. To continue being her guardian and to protect her at all costs while Shizuka stayed in a strong shinobi village.

It was her last order as a kunoichi of Nadeshiko.

She drank and had sex with people to fill the hole in her heart. Will they ever forgive her?

Tokiwa looked to see that they've arrived at the bakery. She ordered them muffins with tea since Shizuka is prohibited in drinking coffee.

They had shared a few stories and laughs. Tokiwa would occasionally teased her about her fighting stances and how they reminded her of a kitten.

"What did you want to discuss?"

Tokiwa was on high alert when Shizuka started shuffling her feet.

_'This should be good.'_

"Tokiwa, I've been acting and feeling strange."

Now, Tokiwa was panicking. She thought that the Academy gave these womanly talks when they are young! Kami, she hopes it wasn't the monthly talk! Oh Kami, please help her.

"Can you clarify, Shizuka-sama?"

Shizuka took long, shuttering breathe. She didn't think it would be this difficult to say. She had practiced in the mirror for hours!

"You see, I have been acting strangely because of Naruto." said Shizuka, "For some strange reason, I feel angry when people talk to him. Then something veil rises from my throat. It's hard to explain."

_'Ooooh. So, Shizuka-chan is jealous.' _thought Tokiwa with a smirk. This was defiantly a talk that she didn't mind giving the girl.

Shizuka immediately regretted talking with Tokiwa when she saw the smirk.

She tried to escape, but Tokiwa had her in a tight hold.

_'I should have asked Yū-sensei!'_

"Oh, we have to have _this _type of talk." said Tokiwa with glee.

Shizuka was struggling to get out of Tokiwa's grip. There is NO WAY that Tokiwa was giving her this talk!

Tokiwa was about to take Shizuka to her apartment when she saw Anko carrying a tied up Iruka.

At first, the girls were confused as to why she needed to tie up Iruka, but then Irkua spoke.

"I'm not Tayaka, Anko!"

"I know it's you because I saw Iruka talking with Kurenai and Asuma. You're also less reserved than Iruka."

Anko undid the jutsu and revealed Tayaka.

"Anko!"

Anko looked over at Tokiwa to see her carrying a struggling Shizuka. Sharing a smirk, the two women walked to Tokiwa's apartment.

Shizuka and Tayaka struggled to leave the grip of the most perverted woman in the entire village.

Kami, pray for them.

* * *

**Hokage Tower**

Naruto entered the Hokage tower at a slow pace.

He spent the rest of the day training with Zoro in the cave. He was still trying to refine one of his new attacks. It was still defective. Naruto decided to try improving his wind chakra by doing more of the exercises that Yūgao-sensei showed him.

His new favorite was splitting a leaf. In his mind, it was like cutting with a sword. If he can master his futon chakra, he could master his new jutsu.

Then there was the jutsu that Yūgao showed him that he craves to learn. She would only teach him when the chunin exams are finished. She promised him that, but he a least needed to advance to the third round of the chunin exams to earn the jutsu. Which means that he needs to beat Nawaki at any costs when the time for their match arrived.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when he bumped into the secretary's desk.

"Roronoa here to see Hokage-sama."

The secretary nodded and led Naruto to see the Hokage.

When Naruto walked into the office, he had to reframe from rolling his eyes.

In the office was the entire Namikaze family with Tsunade and Jiraiya.

"Naruto, you made it exactly on time!"

Naruto nodded at Minato and stayed near the door. He hopes this wasn't what he thought it to be.

"Naruto, come take a seat."

He cursed under his breath but obeyed the Hokage's command.

Once Naruto was seated, Minato decided to speak.

"Naruto, I know you don't want to become a Namikzae again, but you need to know your still my son."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the Hokage.

"If you feel like stating the obvious, I think you need to know that you were a horrible otou-san. Though, I don't blame you entirely."

Minato flinched internally but kept a serious face.

"Hey, you should respect your Kage, gaki."

Naruto flinched when he heard Jiraiya talk to him. He looked at Jiraiya with irritation.

"I believe the Hokage was talking to me, Sannin-san," he said through gritted teeth.

Naruto turned his attention back to the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, please continue."

Minato looked at Naruto. He never seen any of his children act the way Naruto did towards him. Ture, Naruto threw a jab at him, but he was more reserved and at least tried to be polite. He didn't even call Jiraiya a pervy sage like Nawaki.

"Naruto, you are still my son. As my son, I wish to help your training for the third exam. I have talked to everyone. They believe it's fair you should be the first to pick who will train you."

At this point, Tsunade, Kushina, and Jiraiya stood near Minato. Jiraiya was a little farther away but still near.

"I refuse to be trained by any of you," stated Naruto, " I have already made plans with other about my training. Since I arrived to the preliminaries, I started making these plans. It's not fair to those I asked for help if I suddenly changed my mind. They have agreed to the terms of my training, meaning that they already have everything planed out for when it commences."

Jiraiya and Tsunade looked wide-eyed at Naruto. He just refused to be trained by a sannin. They were offended that a genin had refused their training.

"Don't be stupid, gaki. You have two of the legendary sannin who are willing to train you. People would give anything to be trained by us. I'm sure whoever you asked whould be thrilled that you have the opportunity. They'll encourage you to train with us," said Jiraiya while Tsunade nodded.

"I still refuse, Hokage-sama," he said while turning his cold eyes towards Jiraiya, "You're are offended that someone like me refused your training? Give me a break."

Jiraiya was about to talk again but was shocked when Naruto raised a hand at him.

"No. I don't care what you have to offer. I know the Hokage forced you to say these false statements of wanting to train me. You want to train Nawaki and Tsunade wants to train Mito." said Naruto," Now, I want to make something clear to everyone in this room."

Everyone paid close attention to Naruto's next words.

"I want nothing to do with any of you people. You have all unintentionally or intentionally cause harm to me. These scares cannot heal. You have all wounded me to the point where it pains me to hear you call me family."

Kushina, Nawaki, and Mina noticed the looks he gave Jiraiya. They were full of anger.

"I'm moving on with my life. The damage is done and can never be repaired to its former self."

Naruto stood from his chair and walked words the door. Before Naruto can reach the door, Jiraiya blocks it.

"I have done nothing to you, gaki." stated Jiraiya, "Stop being dramatic and forgive your family. They're sorry for everything they've done to you and want to make amends. Won't you accept that?"

Naruto froze.

Naruto closed his eye and tried to control his breathing.

**Flashback**

"Where did he go!"

"I think he went to the red light district."

**Flashback End**

Naruto flinched as another memory came.

**Flashback**

"Otou-san, I'm not lying!"

"That's enough, Naruto."

**Flashback End**

Naruto looked into Jiraiya's eyes with no emotion displayed on his face.

"No, they don't deserve forgiveness. Now, if you all will excuse me, I must rest. Goodbye, Sannin-san."

Naruto walked to the other side of the room, but before he left, Naruto gave the man a menacing glare.

"You know what you did, Jiraiya. The sooner you _remember_, the sooner we can _talk_."

Naruto used shunshin and left the tower.

* * *

When Naruto arrived home, he headed straight towards the bathroom. He threw up in the toilet, disgusted about seeing the pervert again. After taking a long shower, Naruto tried to fall into a deep slumber.

After leaving the Hokage office, more of his memories started to appear.

He remembers what being apart of the Namikzae family felt like him. All the faces that looked a him in either annoyance or anger. The ones that are blinded by stupidity and pent up anger.

Zoro had thought that Naruto was going to reveal all the wrongs Jiraiya and the Namikaze family caused him, but was surprised when Naruto left without lashing out. He knew that Naruto did lie to them about one thing. However, he knew that it is probably for the best if Naruto ignores it. It was his decision if he chose to acknowledgement it.

Naruto decided to close his eyes and relish in the memories. They demanded to be felt.

Zoro appeared in his ghost form next to Naruto's bed.

"Do you remember when you made me fight you to let out the pent up anger."

Zoro nodded his head. After he became tethered to Naruto, he helped the blonde with anything.

"Arigato, Zoro-nii. You, Shizuka, Tayaka, and Anko are my only true family. I can never thank you enough for being the first person to keep me out of the darkness that surrounded me after finding out the truth."

Zoro closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

Naruto started to reminisce about his experience before and after Zoro came into his life.

* * *

AN: Gaara is a little different in this fic. He still only loves himself, but he is manipulated by his Kage while he tries to satisfy Shukaku. More of Gaara's life in Suna will be explained in future chapters.

Updates will be **slower** because were getting closer to Halloween and Christmas. My workplace is busy during this time of year. I'll be updating until Shippuden. Suppuden will most likely be posted in December or Janurary.

The next chapter is long overdue.


	21. Chapter 21

This chapter is Naruto's life during the first year of his sibling's training.

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

Chapter 21: Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto I

Naruto was sitting on the roof, watching his family train together.

He wished he can partake in training, but promised he would let his siblings train first. They had a demon in their belly. They didn't know what could happen if his siblings aren't stable. That's why Naruto decided to support his sibling in any way possible.

His stomach started growling.

Climbing back to his room, Naruto rushed to get some food.

Opening the refrigerator, Naruto found eggs and ramen. There were other ingredients, but Naruto didn't know how to cook. The only option was prepared ramen. Begrudgingly, Naruto grabbed the ramen and started heating it.

"What to do. What to do."

Naruto had been playing shoji by himself for the last five days. He wanted to play with his imouto, but she was training. He decided to visit the Uchiha district. He liked a lot of the stores there.

Maybe he could see Tayaka while being there.

Naruto finished his ramen and yelled that he'd be home before sundown to his parents.

"Maybe I can get a new plushy."

Naruto was surprised that his parents didn't tell him no.

They didn't say anything, but Naruto knew his parent would've said something if he left the house.

It's been a while since he walked outside of the house.

Walking through the streets of the Uchiha, Naruto saw a store that soled plushies. Naruto owned a wolf plushy, but he wanted a bear to keep the wolf company.

Naruto walked into the store and found all sorts of plushies. He saw many types but settled on the white bear. It made his feet happy to see a cute smile on its face.

He walked to the cashier and handed his allowance to the man.

"Did you know that bears are really strong animals. They can run fast and attack an opponent to with their all mighty strength."

Naruto was awed at the fact that a cuddly bear was strong in real life.

After purchasing a white bear from the store, Naruto noticed the sun was going down.

Before he could leave the Uchiha district of the village, a man with brown hair and a high collared shirt approached him.

"Wait, aren't you the son of the Hokage?" asked the man.

"Hai, I'm Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto, the next heir to the Namikzae clan!" he exclaimed with pride.

The man laughed and rubbed Naruto's hair.

"It's nice to meet the next heir to the Namikzae clan, but you should know that I'm going to be the next Hokage."

Naruto smiled and offered the man his hand.

"I can't wait to see that day come."

The man shook Naruto's hand and introduced himself.

"I'm Shinji. Come again whenever you like Namikzae-sama."

Naruto waved goodbye to Shinji and left to his home.

* * *

**Four Weeks Later**

Today, Naruto was not happy.

He looked for his breakfast and found old ramen and eggs. Since there was nothing else, Naruto decided to make his own. Naruto had visited Tayaka's house for breakfast in the past few days. He learned to make his own breakfast by watching Shisui since Kushina never left any for him.

After eating breakfast and washing the dishes, Naruto went to his room to get his clothes ready for the day.

Opening his closet door, Naruto found no clothes.

Naruto checked his hamper and saw all of his clothes stuffed in it. Bewildered by the number of dirty clothes in his hamper, Naruto decided to ask his kaa-san about this later.

He decided to wear his clothes from yesterday since they still looked clean.

Walking to the backyard, Naruto yelled," I'm going out!"

"That's good, Naruto!" yelled Kushina back.

Naruto left the house and ran to Shisui's home.

* * *

When he was near Tayaka's home, Naruto ran into someone.

"Ooof."

Naruto looked up to see Itachi and Shisui.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." greeted Itachi.

"Good morning, Itachi."

"Naruto, Tayaka is waiting at home. She said you were coming today to take her to the Hokage mountain. Be careful."

Naruto nodded at Shisui and promised him to be careful.

He arrived at Tayaka's home with time to spare.

They exchanged greetings and walk towards the Hokage mountain.

Before they could arrive at their destination, Shinji blocked the entrance to the mountain.

"Naruto-sama, It's good to see you early this morning."

Naruto nodded but frowned when Tayaka was hiding behind his back. Naruto had known the girl for a long time and he knew that Tayaka only acted this way when she was scared.

Shinji looked at Tayaka, his frown deepened.

"Naruto-sama, may I talk with you in private."

Naruto nodded and told Tayaka to wait until he came back.

Naruto and Shinji were under a tree a few feet away from Tayaka.

"Naruto-sama, you should keep away from that girl. It will do you no good to be associated with her."

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows when he heard this.

"You see, that girl is said to not be the same as an Uchiha. She is known to be an outsider of the clan. Her caretaker said it himself. He doesn't see the girl as a daughter because he believes she is not his real daughter." whispered Shinji, "If you involve yourself with the outsider, our clan will treat you the same way they treat her."

Naruto nodded and walked back to Tayaka with Shinji.

"Tayaka, do you want to be best friends?"

Shinji was shocked that Naruto completely disregarded their talk. He shook his head and waited for Tayaka's response.

"Okay." she whispered submissively.

"I warned you, Naruto-sama. Now you will receive equal treatment." stated Shinji while walking away, "This will be the last time we associate with one another."

Naruto gave Shinji a sad smile and then walked with Tayaka to the mountain.

* * *

Naruto was becoming tired and decided to end the day. Tayaka didn't want to leave yet, but she agreed with Naruto.

Naruto walked Tayaka all the way home.

"The sun is going down. I need to get home before kaa-san worries."

Tayaka nodded and turned to head into her home."

Naruto nodded when he saw that Tayaka made it into her home safely. He was walking back home when he was stopped by an Uchiha wearing a police vest.

"Namikaze-sama, I would like to ask you a few questions."

Naruto was skeptical about following a random man, but his otou-san had taught him that Uchiha's can be trusted because they enforce the laws of the village. He nodded and followed the police officer into the village. He hoped his kaa-san wouldn't be angry that he was late.

They walked into a dumpling restaurant. The officer ordered two cups of water with a few dumplings.

"Now, Naruto-san, I would like you to answer a few questions. You don't need to be nervous because you aren't in any trouble."

Naruto nodded and let the officer with a long black ponytail start.

"There is a rumor going on that the Namikaze family is starting their family training. If it's true, have you been training with the family?"

Naruto shook his head.

"No. The training is for my siblings to have control of the fox chakra. I have no chakra from the fox, so they can't train me."

The man nodded and looked Naruto in the eye.

"Why don't they train you in the basics?"

Naruto frowned while answering the man's question.

"They don't have time." Naruto answered, "They focus more on my imoutos and otouto."

His parents have become so busy that they forget that Naruto is there.

"Why would the Hokage ignore one of his children regardless of the others chakra." the man said while scrunching up his nose.

"Oh, sorry, my kaa-san hasn't done my laundry in a while." He was running all day with Takaya that he wasn't forgot how much his clothes smelled.

The man's frown deepened.

"Naruto, how long has this been happening?"

"One month."

They continued talking until the man decided he heard enough.

"Alright, Naruto-san. Take care." the man said while frowning.

Naruto left the restaurant and headed home.

When he arrived, Naruto was shocked that the lights were turned off. He expected his kaa-san to stay up until he returned, but she was nowhere to be found.

Naruto decided to go have a good sleep.

* * *

Naruto was heading to Tayaka's house at a hurried pace.

He started feeling anxious when he visited the Uchiha. People would look at him with different emotions.

Some people would look at him with pity and sadness. Others looked at him with anger and something else he couldn't understand.

When he arrived at Tayaka's home, she was sleeping on a tree.

"Tayaka, I'm here!"

She was startled awake by his loud voice. She shot the boy an angry look, but then replaced it with her causal submissive expression.

"Hello, Naruto-sama."

Naruto frowned and helped her stand.

They quickly left the Uchiha district and walked to the Hokage mountain. When they arrived, Naruto decided to ask Tayaka a question he'd been dying to ask.

"Tayaka-san, why do you keep your eyes closed?"

He saw her flinch. She started rubbing her arms and kicking her feet.

"It's okay if you don't want to share; I understand," Naruto assured her.

"Naruto-sama, I keep my eyes close for two reasons. I'm only telling you this because you are the only friend I ever had."

Naruto nodded his head.

"The first reason is that my father demands me to keep them closed because my eyes insult him. He believes I am not his daughter. If I reveal my eye to anyone, the Uchiha police will beat me because I showed my deceitful, freeloading eyes to someone." said Tayaka, "The second reason is that the clan gives Shisui a rough time. It's because I acted like myself when I'm around him. I started acting obedient and submissive so that they don't disturb him. Shisui is against this, but I'll do anything I can to make his life happier than mine because I'm scum."

By the time Tayaka finished talking, Naruto had slapped her across the face. Tayaka looked up at Naruto with wide eyes.

Naruto was standing over her and disappointed at what he heard.

"Tayaka, you aren't scum!" yelled Naruto.

"You might not be an Uchiha, but you're Tayaka. It doesn't matter what others think of you. People care about you, Tayaka. What matters is that you know your worth. You are a spectacular person who needs to start seeing her beauty."

Naruto didn't like that he slapped his friend, but he needed to knock some sense into her. She is his best friend. The last thing he wants is to see her ridiculing herself because of the clan's point of view.

"They don't matter!"

Tayaka could only look at him with tears in her eyes. Nobody ever told her that. All her life, she had been used to hearing people disrespecting her, but here is this boy telling her that she is worth something. She has heard it from Shisui, but she felt he was obligated to say it.

Naruto has absolutely no reason to lie.

"What makes you so sure?"

Naruto smiled at her and said five words.

"Because you're my best friend."

Tayaka started to cry softly. She now knew for sure that she mattered, despite what the clan said. She will find her true freedom and happiness. Hopefully, she can find her real purpose in life.

"Are you okay, Tayaka-chan?"

The two kids looked up to see Shisui. He was wearing his regular Uchiha outfit.

"Yes, nii-san, everything is fine, but I want to talk with you later. I want to spend more time with Naruto-san."

Shisui smiled at her sister and agreed to talk with her later. Before he left, he shot Naruto a menacing glare. Naruto didn't know why, but he felt that Shisui knew he slapped Tayaka.

"Alright, Tayaka. I'll see you at home," said Shisui while disappearing.

For the rest of the day, Naruto and Tayaka talked about what they wanted to accomplish in their lives.

Naruto talked about how he wants to be there for his sibling and how he wanted to be the strongest despite not inheriting the nine-tails power. Tayaka discussed how she plans to surpass the greatness of her brother and inherit the Raven contract.

When night came, Naruto decided to walk Tayaka back to the Uchiha district of the village.

Tayaka had suggested that they take the shortcut through the alleyways. She didn't like walking through the streets at night. While they walked through the path, Tayaka started to walk faster.

"What's wrong, Tayaka?" asked a confused Naruto. There was no reason for her to be in a rush. Shisui knew that she would be coming home.

"Naruto, I'm just trying to get home as fast as possible."

Now Naruto was even more worried. Tayaka only ever called her by sama or san. Why isn't she addressing him in her formal way?

Suddenly, Tayaka felt a sharp pain in her back.

She kneeled and held herself in pain.

Naruto looked behind him to find two masked shinobi with the Uchiha police uniform.

"You thought you could get away, brat?" asked a man with a black mask with two holes for eyes. "Yeah, right. Nobody can escape an Uchiha."

The man next to him had a similar mask, but instead of it being black, it was green.

"Oh look, It's _him_."

The man in the black mask turned his attention to Naruto. He snarled at the sight of him.

"The disgrace is with the kitsune. I should have known the bitch would turn to the hands of evil!" the man yelled in anger, "You'll both die today!"

The man with a green mask ran up to Naruto and delivered a suplex kick to the stomach. He was satisfied when he heard a small crunch like sound.

"Ahh!"

Naruto fell to the ground in pain as the Uchiha with a black mask lifted Tayaka by the neck. The girl kicked her feet, trying to kick the man to loosen the grip.

"First, I believe we should start with this brat. This girl has been degrading our name since her treacherous birth. Then, we can get rid of the demon that the Hokage keeps as a pet."

Naruto watched the man deliver blows to Tayaka. Naruto tried to stand but was unable to because of the pain. The man in the green mask took out a kunai and looked at Tayaka with distaste in his eye.

"Today, you will die, scum." the man said while aiming at her eye.

"NOOO!"

The man stopped and looked back at Naruto. He was shocked to see him standing with his fists tightened. Naruto was heaving as he looked at the men who were about to hurt his best friend.

The man in the green mask smiled and stabbed Tayaka on her thigh. She yelled in pain as a stinging tear started dripping from her eye. The man then proceeded to order the older man to choke her to death.

"I SAID NO!"

Everything became red.

Naruto blinked and looked around. He remembered himself yelling, but everything was a blur. He saw Tayaka on the ground. She was trying to regain her breathing and was looking at Naruto with wide eyes.

The two Uchiha's who were tormenting Tayaka were on the ground with red bruises and blood spurting out of their mouths. The one with a black mask was the shinobi who invited Naruto for dinner a few months ago. He looked like he had trouble breathing. The other shinobi was groaning in pain. He was on his side, facing away from Naruto.

Naruto hesitatingly walked to the shinobi that wore the green mask. Turning him around, Naruto came face to face with Shinji. The man was a mess. There was an imprint of a fist on his cheek that started turning purple. The other half of his face still had the part of the broken mask.

"Shinji. Why would you do this to us?"

The man looked at Naruto with anger in his eyes. Despite the few times that they spent together, Naruto thought of Shinji as a friend like Shisui. However, he was never aware of the man's feelings.

"Naruto, have I told you about my sisters?"

Naruto was caught off guard with the question. He knew some things about Shinji's life, but not everything. Taking Naruto's silence as a no, Shinji decided to elaborate.

"I had two sisters. My eldest sister worked as a chunin for Konoha. My other sister graduated the academy and was starting her ninja career." he seethed, "They died the day you destroyed the village, Kyuubi!"

Naruto froze in shock at his words. Naruto knew he wasn't the kitsune because he didn't have seals like his siblings. There was no way possible that Naruto could be the tail kitsune.

"You're wrong. I'm Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto. The heir of the Namikaze clan and the son of the Hokage," Naruto said with pride. He puffed out his chest and stood tall.

His family meant everything to him. He was going to make them proud and become one of the greatest shinobi the village has seen since Tobirama.

Shinji's friend started laughing despite his shaking.

"No, you are just a pet that the Hokage keeps in check, Kitsune." the man chuckled with a shaking voice. His eyes were wide with anger and craziness. It caused Naruto to shake in fear. Something didn't feel right.

"Look at us, demon. Just a minute ago, you were on the ground begging for us to stop beating the disgrace. Then, you used your powers to beat us. No child would be able to do this to an Uchiha!" the man while trying to open his jacket. Before he could, Shushi and Itachi appeared.

"I didn't do this," Naruto whispered.

Itachi prevented the man from opening up his jacket while Shisui helped his sister over his shoulder. He knew underneath the Uchiha's the jacket were exploding tags.

"Itachi, take Tayaka to the village hospital, I'll deal with the rest," he said while walking towards Itachi. Naruto saw the hesitant in Itachi's eyes, but the teen complied.

Naruto watched as Shisui zipped the Uchiha's jacket back up.

Before Naruto could say anything, Itachi stopped walking.

"Naruto-kun, I think you should let me take you to the hospital."

The tone Itachi used left no room for debating. Naruto held Itachi's hand as he transported them to the hospital.

* * *

Naruto waited patiently as the hospital staff tended on Tayaka's wounds. Naruto had a bandage on his stomach where Shinji had kicked him.

He wanted to see Tsunade while he was here, but the nurse said that Tsunade was out on business and wouldn't be returning until tomorrow.

"Naruto."

Naruto turned around to see Itachi.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but Tayaka is still in surgery. I'll need to take you home," he said.

"No, I'm staying until I know that Tayaka is okay," said Naruto.

He wasn't going to leave until he knew that Tayaka was okay. It didn't matter if he had to sleep in a hospital chair for days; he needed to see his best friend.

Itachi sighed.

He wanted to bring Naruto to his family, but he knew that Naruto wouldn't be in trouble. After he and Sasuke visited the home, he noticed the Hokage had forgotten about his son. He wanted to make him realize it, but with the children's training, he realized that the Hokage barely had time to sleep. Kushina didn't have an excuse, but he rather not be a part of their family drama.

He did try to talk about it with Naruto, but the boy wanted him to keep quiet for the sake of his family. In his opinion, Naruto was very selfless and naive. He hasn't truly realized the gravity of the situation. Maybe the poor boy held hope that his parents weren't neglecting him.

Since Naruto didn't want him to say anything, Itachi decided to mind his own business. Naruto would have to deal with this by himself.

It was up to Naruto to acknowledge it.

"Okay, Naruto, you can stay. If anyone working for the hospital tells you to leave, go home." Itachi said before he disappeared.

Naruto had thought about how Shinji betrayed him. His new friend had wanted to kill him for being a demon after he decided to be Tayaka's best friend. He thought about his otou-san words about the Uchiha police.

_'Naruto, you can always trust the police of this village. They are the ones who bring peace while shinobi go on missions.'_

No, Naruto knows that the Uchiha aren't all he thought to be. He also could judge someone for one person's actions. He would be wary around the Uchiha after today. Maybe Shinji wasn't the only person who thought of him as a demon.

He will never trust someone that easy again.

_'I need to find things out for myself. I can't trust otou-san's words so easily now.'_

With that final thought, Naruto fell asleep in his chair.

* * *

**A few Months Later**

Naruto was in the living room, listening to Nawaki as he belittled him.

"Naruto, why are you such a disgrace to us?"

Naruto flinched as Nawaki punched him in the back of the head.

"I should have been born first so I can receive the title of the heir to the Namikaze. Since I have the foxes chakra and I'm training with otou-san, I should be the heir and the Hokage." Nawaki stated proudly," If you want to be the heir, you need to start training. If you don't, you can go to the reserves! It's all your good for, Naruto."

Nawaki stormed up to his room to prepare for their birthday party next week.

Naruto, on the other hand, ran to the study to see if Mina was there. To his luck, his sister was sleeping on the chair.

"Mina-chan." Naruto whispered while tapping the sleeping Mina.

Mina rubbed her eyes and saw a crying Naruto. With a sigh, Mina stood and hugged Naruto. "It's Nawaki again, isn't it?"

Nodding Naruto held his sister. He knew that they couldn't spend time because of her intense studies, but he wished she would put the book down and play. Sadly, Naruto was right.

"Look, I'll take care of it. Thanks for walking me up, nii-san. You're the best." said Mina while opening a new book.

Naruto immediately left the room when she opened the book. He wished that he could stay, but Mina needs to study while she has time. He learned the hard way to never disturb her while reading. They always ended up hurting each other while yelling.

He wanted to go in there and yell at Mina to spend time with him, but he knew she needed to do this.

It's not like she has spare time.

He rubbed his fingers together and decided to see Tayaka.

When he arrived, he noticed Kaka walking. He didn't pay any attention to him, but he did greet to someone. He liked Kakashi, but he was jealous of him taking his place as onii-san.

"Morning, Rin-san."

Kakashi stopped and looked at Naruto.

"Hello, Naruto-kun," said Rin while hugging him. Naruto laughed at how she always rubbed his cheek.

After saying goodbye, Rin walked up to Kakashi as they headed to their sensei's home. Kakashi kept his eyes on her.

"Hey, Rin. Are you friends with Naruto?"

Rin raised an eyebrow but nodded at Kakashi.

"Yes, he brought flowers for Obito yesterday. He said it's because Hokage-sama always talked about how much he misses him."

With that said, the two shinobi continued to walk down the street.

* * *

"Are you excited for your birthday, Naruto?"

Naruto looked over to his best friend.

They were currently laying on the grass of a secluded training ground. Since Tayaka couldn't come to his birthday party next week, Tayaka decided to give Naruto his birthday present today.

"Yeah, I get to be with everyone that day. I can spend time with Kaa-chan and Mina-chan."

Tayaka gave Naruto a sad smile. She knew his family pretty well. She only visited once and instantly disliked his family. Nawaki was an arrogant idiot. Mito was just like Nawaki but with a dash of bitch in the mix. As for Mina, she didn't know how to describe the girl. She talks with Naruto, but at the same time, she treats Naruto as if he was a friendly ghost. One minute she sees him, the next she forgets about him. At least she was kind towards Naruto.

The parents are much worse.

Minato has never spoken to Naruto since training had started. She understands that Minato is a busy man, but it was not an excuse. The worst part is that Minato was more distant with Naruto. When he bumps into him, he doesn't even stop walking.

As for Kushina, well, let's say she wins the worst mother of the year award. Tayaka has put Kushina in her hit list under Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga.

"Well, I guess I should give you my present before we go."

Tayaka sat up and gave Naruto a red box.

Naruto accepted her gift and opened it to find a book. Looking at the title, Naruto saw it was the two books he thought were gone.

"How did you get them?"

He had talked to Tayaka about the book for almost a year. How was Tayaka able to get him the book was beyond his knowledge.

Chuckling Tayaka decided to tell him about where she got him the books.

"I found one of the books from an old shop in town. I found the second book with the help of Shisui. He was able to find it for me outside the village."

The first book was a book about the Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama. The Sandamie received a journal that belonged to Tobirama from the man's wife to help guide him through his time as Hokage. Hiruzen decided to make a book to honor Tobirama after receiving the journal and also put his experiences with the man.

The journal described every event that Tobirama experienced before his death. Sadly, the book stopped selling. The Uchiha demanded the Hokage to confiscate the books because they believe that Tobirama lied about his experiences with their clan. Of course, Hiruzen agreed with them.

Naruto knew that the book remained and was determined to find it, but he gave up after looking in every store in the village.

The other book was written by Jiraiya.

His kaa-san told him that the main character from the book was where he received his name. He wanted to read the story to see why he was named by the protagonist.

"Thank you, Tayaka!"

Naruto hugged his best friend and started skipping through the pages.

Tayaka was delighted that her second nii-san is overjoyed by the books. Shisui had complained about how hard it was to find the book about Tobirama outside the village. He found it in a small town in Hi no Kuni. The man of the shop had given it to Shisui for free.

"It's no problem, Naruto." she said," By the way, they wanted to give you this."

Naruto nodded and opened the present from Shisui and Itachi to find a pack of kunai and shuriken. Itachi and Shisui promised him a kit of shinobi weapons so he could try training with Tayaka in private.

Tayaka no longer acted formally with Naruto.

Ever since the incident with Shinji, she was determined to live free from her clan, but Shisui had talked to her about Danzo. Since her talk about Danzo, she decided to keep up the charade about being useless and submissive. She was great at acting, so it wasn't difficult. However, she didn't act this way when she was around Naruto.

Naruto had made her promise to act like herself around him when they were alone.

"So, I was thinking we can start working on your shuriken training the day after your birthday. Shisui promised to stay a least an hour to make sure you do things perfectly."

Naruto shook his head.

"No, I'm helping Kaa-chan clean after the party. I'm pretty sure I'll be too tired from hanging out with my siblings."

Tayaka knew that after this party, Naruto would be devastated. She had a gut feeling that Naruto's birthday wasn't going to be everything he imagined.

"Alright, Naruto. Just promise me you'll come to visit us next week. Shisui and I want to give you a small party too."

Naruto nodded and thanked Tayaka again for the gift. They spent the rest of the day talking about their dreams and ambitions for the near future like they always do.

* * *

AN: I don't know why, but I was hesitant to post the two chapters. I think my stress level is a bit high from work, but I'm fine. Next chapters will be posted soon.


	22. Chapter 22

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

This is probably the longest chapter so far.

This is the continuation of both chapter 3 and 21.

* * *

Chapter 22: Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto II

"Happy Birthday to the Heroes of the Hidden Leaf!"

Naruto looked on as his sibling blew their birthday candles and laughed together. His kaa-san was hugging Mina while his otou-san was hugging Mito. Nawaki was in between them, posing with two peace signs for the pictures.

Naruto stood there in shock.

Why?

Why was his family not pestering him with worry?

Why were they taking pictures without him?

Why did they celebrate his birthday without him?

Naruto looked at everyone in the room who were having fun and celebrating their birth. Nobody had noticed that Naruto was missing in the celebration. His kaa-san and otou-san were too busy handing out cake while smiling.

Naruto couldn't take it anymore.

He ran to his room and slammed the door shut.

If he paid attention, he'd notice that Itachi watched the whole scene.

"Kaa-san. Otou-san."

Naruto was in his room, sobbing his parent's name into a pillow.

Naruto felt his whole world crumble. His breathing became hard as his tears hit the pillow.

He couldn't believe it.

After Minato's preachings about family and Kushina's promises to Naruto, they forgot about him.

Naruto couldn't help but feel betrayed and abandoned.

Naruto continued to cry until he fell into a heavy sleep.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes and rubbed them. He felt emotionally exhausted.

Sitting up, he wondered what his family was doing until he remembered everything that happened last night.

_'They forgot about me.'_

Naruto stood on his feet and realized that he was still wearing his dirty clothes from yesterday. After seeing his family celebrating without him, he ran upstairs and cried.

Looking to his left, he saw the first family picture they ever have taken. He was in his kaa-san's arms as a baby.

Scowling, Naruto couldn't help the next thought that crossed his mind.

_'How dare they!'_

Naruto punched it causing the glass to break.

Then, Naruto felt someone pat his shoulder.

Naruto quickly turned his head to see Zoro.

"What the hell!" Naruto yelled as he fell to the floor.

Zoro stood tall with his intimidating aura, daring Naruto to yell. Naruto knew he should keep quiet by the look on his face.

"So, now that you realized that your family is crap, you're going to get revenge?" asked Zoro.

Naruto thought about what Zoro had said to him. Revenge does sound nice, but how would he even start. Would revenge satisfy his anger?

"You wanna know my opinion since I was right about your family?" asked Zoro.

Naruto looked at Zoro with curiosity.

"I think you should focus on yourself for once. You can waste all your anger in getting even with that family, but will it be worth it at the end?"

Naruto kept his mouth shut and glared at Zoro.

"Instead, focusing on yourself will help you find your happiness and goals in life," Zoro said,"From what I've seen, you only have goals that involve your family. Do you have any real goals that only concern yourself?"

"I haven't only thought about my family!" yelled Naruto.

Zoro only glared at Naruto. He had seen almost everything in his mind. There was nothing that Naruto could hide that Zoro didn't know.

"Oh, if it's true, then name one goal that doesn't involve your family. Name something you are doing for yourself."

When Naruto didn't answer, Zoro took it as a no.

"You know what worse than anything, the fact that you repress your emotions about your family to please everyone," Zoro said in irritation," You don't even know what the village truly thinks about you because you only focus on those baka's you call family."

"The villagers love me!"

Zoro shook his head. He already knew Naruto had blinded himself from the truth.

"What if I showed you proof that not everything you believe is true?"

Naruto was hesitant about Zoro. He knew the man for only a few hours, but he saw everything that Naruto has done since childbirth. He might even know things he didn't realize affected him.

"What would you show me?"

"I'd show what you want to know. Like why many of the villagers are nice towards you and why Minato had neglected your training."

"Otou-san did that because of the-"

"Yeah, that's part of it, but it's not the entire truth."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Zoro. How can there be more? Did his otou-san lie to him? How would he, himself, know?

Curiosity got the better of him.

"Alright, show me."

Naruto never expected for Zoro to punch the back of his head. Naruto knew that he would have a headache when he woke up.

* * *

Naruto awoke in a strange room.

He looked at the bottom to see water forming on the heels of his feet. The water seemed to glow blue under his feet. The rest of the room was white with doors everywhere, but the front of the room contained a golden cage with a paper with the word "seal" in the middle.

Naruto looked closer to the cage and saw blurry images.

"This is a part of your brain that contains your memories," said Zoro, causing Naruto to stagger back in surprise.

"Stop doing that!"

Ignoring Naruto, Zoro looked at the cage.

"I'm able to read everything about you, but that cage contained sealed memories. I'm not able to open it, but I think you can. All you have to do is rip that seal off."

Naruto looked up at the seal with a bewildered expression. He knew that a seal is only put by other people, but he never placed it on himself. He knew almost nothing about them since Minato refused to give Naruto lessons on fuinjutsu.

"So, I peel it off?" asked Naruto.

Zoro shrugged his shoulders and raised one of his swords. He ran to the cage but was shoved back by an invisible force.

"I can get near it, but since this is your mind, I think you can rip away the seal."

Naruto nodded and started taking hesitant steps towards the seal. He passed the point where Zoro got pushed away and continued his path to the sealed cage.

The glowing blue water that lit the room carried him up to the seal. He was startled by it at first, but then ignored it. He placed his hand on the seal and tore it off the cage.

Naruto was blown back by a wave of water from the inside of the cage. Zoro caught Naruto before he landed on the ground.

The cages started to open slowly.

Naruto walked up to the cage and saw images floating in the air. Zoro walked next to Naruto with his arms crossed.

"That's the memories that were in the cage. I don't know how they ended up here, but I was able to catch glimpses. Are you sure you want to see what's been here?"

"These are my memories, but someone sealed them away. I need to see what they are."

Naruto walked closer to the memories until he was standing underneath them. The images started to come down and entered Naruto's head.

Naruto's eyes widened as memories started to return to him at a slow pace.

**Flashback**

Naruto was walking home from another day with Tayaka.

He knew it was late, but it didn't bother him in the slightest. By the time he gets home, his kaa-san will be asleep.

He stopped walking when he heard shouting and laughing from the inside of a bar.

Curiosity got the better of him as he walked into an ally and peeked into an open window of the establishment.

"Another successful mission, guys!"

A group of shinobi men was drinking at a bar.

"We sure showed them today? Those stupid shinobi didn't know what hit them!"

One of the men was silent, however. He looked more annoyed by the older man than anything.

"What's wrong with you today. You haven't smiled all day!" yelled the older man as he gulped down his drink.

"It's because my daughter just told me she likes that demon!" said the man as he threw his drink at a nearby wall.

Naruto raised an eyebrow because he didn't know there was a demon in the village. Whatever it is, his otou-san needs to know.

"You mean the eldest of the Hokage's family gained the attention of your daughter?" asked a startled shinobi.

"Yeah, and she thought out asking the demon out on a stroll. Hell, I'm not going to let that happen! If that brat knows what's best for him, he will stay away from my daughter. I already told her mother. She's taking her to Inoichi tomorrow."

A man from the bar counter laughed at the thought.

"If my daughter likes the gaki, I'll let her chase him. Once they're married, I'll poison him and take the money his family is bound to have. I know she wants to be a part of the clan. Hell, she might be the one poisoning him afterward," the man at the bar said.

"Unlike you, I care about her safety. The Hokage has a leash on him, but how long until the demon remembers who he is? The Third lost his life, sealing the soul of the tailed beast into that kid. He is no longer a human."

One of the men who was serving a customer laughed and poured himself a drink.

"I heard the Uchiha's are angry that the Hokage lets him visit every day."

"Maybe they will be true heroes and end that demon's life. God knows how long until its true form break out."

Naruto looked on with eyes filled with terror as the people of the establishment talked about his death. He had tears sliding down his face when he saw the kind man from his kaa-san favorite store who wanted to kick him out at the sight of him.

**Flashback**

Naruto watched as Kiba grabbed a rock and chucked at him.

Naruto turned around and saw the satisfied smirks on Kiba and Tsume's face. Hana shook her head and waited for her family to leave. She quickly picked up Naruto and led him to an ally. She checked his wounds and gave him an expectation.

"You need to go to the hospital. I wish I could take you, but I'm forbidden to be with you. Go to the hospital now."

When Naruto arrived at the hospital, an ANBU threw him out.

**Flashback**

The Namikaze family was celebrating another successful training lesson. Every one of the kids was able to finish the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu)**.

Minato sent the kids to bed as he sat down.

He heard the front door open and saw Naruto. His eye widened when he saw a large purple bruise on his arm. He quickly stood and examined Naruto's arm.

"What happened, Naruto?"

Naruto gave his otou-san a sad smile and decided to tell his father the truth.

"I visited my friend. We were going to eat at a restaurant in the Uchiha district, but they didn't let us in. They dragged us out of the restaurant by pulling our arms."

Minato frowned at Naruto and demanded an explanation. He couldn't believe Naruto would make such a lie.

"Naruto, I want the truth."

"Otou-san, I'm not lying!"

"That's enough, Naruto," said Minato in a stern tone, "Go to bed. I'll have your kaa-san take care of that bruise."

Naruto rushed to his room and locked the door. He should've known that Minato wouldn't believe him.

'_He's the Hokage. He doesn't have time for me. He has to do what Kages do. He has to train my siblings to control the chakra. It doesn't matter if I get hurt. He'll believe the villagers over me in a heartbeat._'

**Flashback**

Naruto was running as a group of drunk shinobi chased him throughout Konoha.

"Where did he go?"

"I think he ran to the red-light district."

Naruto smiled at the fact that the shinobi lost track of him. He looked at the bleeding wounds of his legs. The drunken shinobi had used a kunai to cut the back of his ankles. Fortunately, he got away without any injuries.

He used the shadows to avoid any shinobi that might be patrolling the village. He didn't trust them after helping drunks last time.

Naruto was halfway to his home until a shinobi wearing a dog mask saved him. He sighed out in relief, knowing that it was Kakashi. He can always trust him to help him out of a sticky situation.

"Arigato, Kakashi."

He let slumber overtake him as Kakashi carried him to his home.

When Naruto woke up, he was greeted by shinobi surrounding him.

**Flashback**

"I'm not doing that, sensei."

Naruto's body was against the wall as he eavesdropped in the conversation Minato was having with Jiraiya. He only wanted a drink of water, but he saw them conversing with each other.

"Minato, I think it's for everyone's best interest that you reconsider this."

Minato sighed from his seat on the table as he rubbed his temple. He didn't know why Jiraiya was so intent to discuss this with him.

"Sensei, this is Naruto's birthright," explained Minato, "He is the oldest, meaning he's the rightful heir to the clan."

"Just becuase Naruto is older than Nawaki, doesn't mean he's fit enough to become the heir," said Jiraiya, "Look at Hinata and Hanabi."

"Sensei, I have already decided that this isn't something thats up for debate. Nawaki won't become the heir to the Namikaze-"

"Listen, Minato," he said sharply, "I believe that Nawaki deserves at least a chance to prove himself. Tsunade and I agreed that Nawaki should be given an opporunity to prove himself!"

"You don't know what kind of shinobi Naruto will become in the fututre, Jiraiya," said Minato while slamming his hand down on the table.

"That's true, but there's not guarantee."

"Explain," demanded Minato while glaring at Jiraiya.

"It's no secret that Naruto has no remanence of the fox chakra. In fact, Naruto is the only gaki that possesses none of the traits of the nine tails. It's most evident in his facial features," he said while pointing to his cheek, "The truth is that no matter what situation arrises, Naruto isn't going to surpass Nawaki. It doesn't matter how much you teach him, Minato, Naruto is most likely become strong like Kurenai, but will not even succeed Kakashi."

"I know Naruto is weak, especially with me not training him, but I believe in him."

"You only feel obligated to say that. Now, be honest with yourself Minato."

"Naruto will become a great shinobi!" said Minato while slamming his fist on the table. He won't allow to let Jiraiya bad mouth his son!

"Now, Minato, I believe you got me all wrong," said Jiraiya with his hands slightly raised, " I'm not saying that Naruto won't become a spectacular shinobi, far from it. However, I'm saying Naruto won't have the same abilities as Nawaki. Nor do I believe they'll be on par."

"We don't know the abilities Naruto will possess," stated a now clam Minato.

"That's correct, but do you truly know he will surpass Nawaki after we finish teaching him? When Nawaki is finished with his training, Naruto won't be able to become heir. The only reason we are able to teach the kids everything is because of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Naruto doesn't have enough chakra nor time to master the things being taught to the others, especially when we start teaching them how to master their chakra natures."

Minato stayed silent as he lowered his eyes.

"You're saying.."

"You know it's the truth," said Jiraiya.

"Still, Naruto-"

"No," said Jiraiya while raising his hand, "Even if you bring the boy into the training, the likelihood of the boy getting hurt is high. Even if you teach him, Minato, Naruto will never become greater than Nawaki. By the time you start teaching him, it will be time for someone to be crowned leader of the clan."

"Sensei, please give me time to think about this."

Naruto held back his tears as disappointment sunk into his stomach. He heard a noise on the floor and looked ahead to see a toad.

**Flashback**

"Didn't I tell you!" yelled Jiraiya.

"You were right, sensei. Nawaki can be heir to the clan," said Minato, "However, I won't give Nawaki the title. Instead, I will have Naruto and Nawaki compete for the title when both become chunin."

Jiraiya nodded and agreed to Minato's decision. He knows that Nawaki will win the title. After all, he is the child of prophecy.

Naruto felt anger in his veins as he watched the satisfied smirk on Jiraiya's face. He's filled with rage at the likelihood of Nawaki taking his birthright. It was the only thing Naruto has left of his family.

**Flashback**

"That's enough, Naruto. You aren't ready for the title of heir if you keep saying these absurd notions about the villagers. If you keep this up, I have no choice but to give the title to Nawaki."

Nawaki was sitting at the table with an arrogant smirk on his face; it almost made Naruto punch him.

"I understand, Otou-san."

**Flashback**

Naruto spied at Jiraiya out of curiosity.

His godfather was talking with a toad.

"Inform them that everything is under control, Kosuke."

The toad looked at the toad sage with anger.

"What about the eldest son, Jiraiya. You always talk about the others, but nothing about the other tadpole."

Jiraiya frowned and decided to tell him.

"Naruto won't be a problem. He is a gaki like Nawaki but doesn't contain the power of the nine tails. He was a bother and distraction, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and give him a seal."

The toad's eye widened.

"What kind of seal?"

"It's a new one I invented thanks to the help of the sealing books in Minato's library. I also had help from some books that the Yamanaka clan lent me. Since they weren't important to the clan they me used them," explained Jiraiya, "It's a memory seal that took me years to develop."

"What's the purpose of the seal?"

"The seal is used to seal away any memories that Naruto experiences. It works similarly to the **Hakke no Fuin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Sealing Jutsu)** does for the kids. Instead of sealing away a tailed beast, it secures both traumatic memories and memories of my choosing. The memories are locked in a cage with the seal in the center. He will never be able to unlock it without peeling the seal from inside his mindscape. The best part is that he'll never be able to enter the mindscape because he doesn't know about it."

Jiraiya turned his head and looked to the right where Naruto was hiding behind a tree. He smiled at Naruto and waved his hand.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but you became a nuisance to them. I had to do something for the greater good. Sometimes sacrifices are made. You're one of them, Naruto. I know I'm going to hell for what I did, but as long as the future is protected, I'm willing to do this again. Gomen."

Naruto didn't hear what the toad told Jiraiya. He ran home and locked himself in his room. He tried to find the seal, but with no avail. He cried and cursed the man who took away with memories. He is the man who knew everything that happened to him but did nothing about it.

For the first time in his life, Naruto felt like a prisoner. He's stuck in a malicious village full of blinded people. His ward being Minato and Jiraiya, Naruto knew there was no escape from hell.

**Flashback**

"I SAID NO!"

A black and red substance covered Naruto's arms as he glared menacingly at Shinji and the other man. He felt something break inside as he stood up and charged at Shinji at an alarming speed. Shinji started weaving hand signs, but it was too late.

Naruto punched Shinji in the face and then kicked him to the ground.

"Gah!"

Naruto rushed to the other Uchiha and delivered a devastating blow to the ribs and chest. He spits out blood from the mouth along with foam.

Naruto stepped back and looked at them menacingly.

"Never hurt my family!"

The substance that covered his arms faded. Naruto looked confused as he shook his head. He left like he was in a trance on some kind.

Naruto blinked and looked around. He remembered himself yelling, but everything was a blur. He saw Tayaka on the ground. She was trying to regain her breathing and was looking at Naruto with wide eyes.

**End of Flashbacks**

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Naruto wailed on his knees while holding his head. Stinging tears streamed down his eyes as he cursed Jiraiya and Minato. More unpleasant memories came back. The majority was about Jiraiya.

He cursed the perverted sage.

Zoro watched Naruto with fascination despite the gaki's despair.

_'He was able to use Haki already. The kid does have the potential to wield me, but will he have the spirit?'_

Zoro will have to find out, but first, he must help Naruto. No matter what happens, he will not let Naruto fall into darkness because of this event.

He watched as Naruto became consumed with grief. Naruto was so full of pain that he fell on the floor with a thud, his face frozen with distress.

Zoro picked up Naruto as they left the mindscape together.

* * *

Naruto woke up with a startle.

He looked around the room, searching for Zoro. When he didn't find Zoro, he sat back in his bed.

'_It all felt so real.'_

"It was all real."

Zoro's voice startled him.

"It's been four days."

He appeared out of the air and leaned against the window. His arms crossed as he wore his stern expression.

"What are you planning? Is revenge still an option?"

Naruto scowled as he looked at the swordsman. He still felt so much anger that he felt like storming downstairs and yelling at Minato while cutting off Jiraiya's treasured jewels.

"That's violent of you, but I got a better idea."

* * *

Naruto was at the training ground near the forest of death. Naruto was more annoyed and angry because Zoro had got them lost trying to find the training ground.

Zoro made sure that Naruto followed him to the area where his plan was going to commence.

"Why did you bring me here?" Naruto snarled.

"Were here to get your pent up frustrations out before you decided to do something idiotic like your god-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!"

Sighing, Zoro started to walk towards Naruto. He stopped and looked Naruto dead in the eyes.

"Hit me."

Naruto looked at Zoro with widened eyes.

"What?"

"Hit me."

Naruto was hesitant until Zoro started talking again.

"Oh, so you're not angry that the old fart sealed away your memories?" Said Zoro, "So weak."

"What did you say?" asked a glaring Naruto.

"I said, YOU'RE WEAK, BAKA!"

Naruto screamed at Zoro and punched him in the stomach.

Naruto didn't relent on hitting Zoro. He thought about how angry he was and punched him with all his strength. Zoro never moved as Naruto delivered a round of punches to his body.

After a few hours, Naruto relented and leaned against a tree.

"Better?"

"A little," said Naruto while panting.

Zoro nodded his head as he sat on the ground. He waited for Naruto to catch his breath.

"Thanks for that," said Naruto as he sat next to Zoro.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Naruto didn't mind it in the slightest. Naruto felt calm by hearing the birds and feeling the gentle breeze.

"Do you want to get revenge or what?"

Naruto stared at Zoro.

In truth, Naruto wasn't someone who likes the idea of retribution. He heard that vengeance is an ugly thing that the weak-minded let conquer. It was something that Shisui taught him and Tayaka. He preferred to learn from the experience than to sulk around because of it.

"Good choice, but we need a plan."

"A plan?" asked a bewildered Naruto.

Zoro nodded and gave Naruto a smirk.

"Do you honestly think the pervert won't notice you peeled the seal from the mindscape? He'll probably check on it to see if any memories need to be sealed."

Naruto nodded and thought about what to do now. After a few minutes, he decided something.

"I want to be powerful," said Naruto while looking at the sky, "I want to be strong and live. I want to be free."

"What about Tayaka?"

Naruto flinched at the mention of his best friend.

"I only stay for her, Zoro. I only care about myself and the people who are precious to me. I want to be strong to protect the people I care about, but I also want to learn about myself."

"What do you plan on doing?"

"I'm going to start my training without them. I'm going to be the person in charge of my destiny. I won't allow myself to be weak and useless any longer."

Zoro studied Naruto with calculating eyes.

"I can help you become physically stronger. I can plan workouts to help, but I can't help you discover yourself. That is something you must do by yourself," said Zoro, "It's your life, your decision."

"Were you stronger than my parents in your old days?" asked Naruto.

Zoro nodded.

"You have no idea."

Naruto stood and looked at Zoro with determination.

"Teach me."

"Teach you what exactly, Naruto?" asked Zoro. He needed him to clarify what he wanted.

"Help me become more powerful. You said you are a master swordsman. Teach me."

Zoro narrowed his eyes at Naruto.

"You want me to teach you? Why me?"

Naruto looked at Zoro like he was the dumbest person on earth.

"You said that we were both bound to each other the moment I survived the pain from the three swords. It would be odd not to use them if I need to carry them everywhere," said Naruto, "Plus, I think it's cool how you are the best swordsman. It's different from what my parents do. The four swords you carry are pulling me. It's almost like they're calling me, especially the back and yellow one."

Zoro listened intently to Naruto. It surprises him that Naruto feels a pull, much like he did when he was alive. Swords always interested him.

"I'm not teaching you swordsmanship until you are physically capable of wielding them. We are starting tomorrow morning. You are going to need a lot of energy, so I expect you to eat what I tell you. I will be pushing you harder than anyone will ever know. If I see no determination from you, I will stop training you. If I see you slacking off, I'm going to beat you to the ground, you got that?"

Nodding his head, Naruto stood up and raced home, unaware of the hell Zoro would give him.

* * *

**3 Months Later**

Tayaka was angry.

She doesn't remember when was the last time she spent any time with her best friend. Naruto was the only person beside Shisui and Itachi that she can speak with, but both of them have missions today. She was determined to find Naruto and shout at him for not visiting for so long. Itachi told her to give Naruto some space, but this was long enough.

She waited near the Namikaze's home for the entire day, waiting for Naruto to walk out the door. She knew the blonde wouldn't stay inside all day. It wasn't in his nature.

She was surprised when Naruto came home with sweaty and bloody clothing. His arms were limp to his sides as staggered in his every step.

"What happened?" asked a concerned Tayaka.

At this point, Naruto tumbled to the ground with a face full of dirt.

"I started the physical aspect of training," said Naruto with his face on the ground.

Tayaka could barely hear him and decided to help him up by throwing his arm around her neck. When she saw his face, she couldn't help the gasp that left her mouth.

Naruto was a mess.

His eyes held so much pain and hatred, but mostly remorse.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

"I finally have woken up form that happy dream. It was an illusion, so I decided to make my happiness a reality," Naruto said with an annoyed tone.

Tayaka almost dropped Naruto after hearing him. Who is this person? Where was the happy Naruto she met when they first saw each other?

She repeated the sentence in her head and scowled at her hypothesis.

'_So, he finally knows. I never thought that Naruto would break this badly when he realized the truth about his family.'_

"Do you need help in your training, blondie?"

Naruto growled at her in irritation, "No thanks, baka."

A tick mark grew on Tayaka's forehead as she punched Naruto in the gut.

"I can already tell you'll be a pain from this point on," said Tayaka as he helped Naruto to his room, "You should know that every time you call me baka, I'm going to beat the crap out of you, got that?"

Naruto mumbled a whatever at his best friend and scowled when she threw him to the ground of his room. She shut the door and headed home. She needed time to adjust to the new personality of her best friend. The once squeaky clean and naïve Naruto was now a major asshole. Well, he is an asshole, in her opinion.

When she looked into his eyes, she knew that Naruto had changed. That wasn't going to stop her from caring about her friend. Naruto is always there for her. now she is going to be there for him.

Because like Shisui, Naruto is her brother.

_'I can be wrong. Maybe he'll be back once the whole thing dies down.'_ she thought with confidence.

Little does she know Naruto will remain stoic, cheeky, annoying, and solemn. Well, unless she angers him.

* * *

**Present Time**

Naruto finished thinking about the past and looked at Zoro.

Word spread of the incident with Shinji, causing the villagers to become more fearful. Deciding to not end up like Shinji, the villagers decided to ignore Naruto completely. They only acknowledge they tell their children to stay away.

After two weeks of neglect, Naruto became a shadow. Nobody knew if Naruto was the cause of the incident, but they decided that neglecting the boy was probably best for everyone.

Now, nobody acknowledges him. He became the ghost of the village. All because the village sees him as a nuisance. Someone who was unwanted and broken.

That is until Zoro reminded him about the people he cherishes.

"I'm sorry for being a brat at first. My head was still in a dark place at the time. I'm surprised you had patience with me."

"If you call that beating the crap out of you, then you're welcome," Zoro scoffed.

Naruto chuckled as he thought about there being no reason to leave the village. Sure, his _family_ was trash, but Jiraiya never came back to check on the seal. He betted that the sage thought it was impossible to rip off.

There was no reason to leave.

He will remain a ninja for Konoha until otherwise. After all, he is only loyal to those who he cares about. He will be faithful to Tayaka and Shizuka because they are his true family. Nothing will prevent him from protecting the people he cares about.

"Hey, isn't about time you headed out. You're going to be late for the meeting."

Naruto looked outside his window and saw that it was almost time for everyone to meet up. He walked to his closet and grabbed his usual attire.

"I'll be in the sword if you need me. Try not to because I'm going to sleep," said Zoro while disappearing.

Naruto nodded his head and started to head to the team's training ground.

* * *

Naruto waited for an hour, wondering where the girls were at this time.

Naruto turned to his left and heard Shizuka and Tayaka approaching.

He raised an eyebrow when he saw Shizuka and Tayaka looking anywhere but him.

"Is something wrong?" he questioned the pale girls.

They just mumbled about a traumatizing event but decided not to explain any further. The less Naruto knew, the better.

"Alright, so we're going to do this, right?" asked Naruto one more time.

Tayaka looked at Naruto with annoyance.

"Yeah, but I still don't see why you guys should do this. I heard that anything could happen if someone hasn't signed a contract. You two are the only ones without one."

Naruto smirked at Tayaka.

"Don't worry, nothing wrong will happen. Shizuka and I will be safe. Worry about the raven summons instead. Once they meet you, I guarantee that they'll be sorry to have you as a summoner."

Tayaka lightly punched Naruto, still not recovered from the explicit talk with the wicked Anko and Tokiwa.

They made a large circle.

Tayaka pulled out the summon scroll that Shisui gave her before his death. She opened it and signed her name with the blood from her thumb. Weaving the hand signs, Tayaka summoned a raven.

**"Kuchiyose no Jutsu! (Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!)."**

A small raven appeared before Tayaka.

**"It's nice to meet you again, Tayaka,"** said the raven, **"Before I can bring you to my summoning realm, I need you to try and summon another raven using a large amount of your chakra. The raven you summon will be your possible personal summon."**

Tayaka nodded and yelled, **"Kuchiyose no Jutsu! (Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!)."**

A poof of smoke surrounded the area where Tayaka slammed her hand. Once it cleared, a raven the size of Tayaka appeared. It wore a purple sleeveless yukata with white butterflies on it.

"What a surprise, indeed!" yelled the summon, "She will be an excellent partner for you, Tayaka. Now, let's see if you are a worthy raven summoner."

Before the raven can reverse summon Tayaka, she stopped him.

"Wait, I need to say goodbye."

The raven stopped and looked behind him to find the kids from the last time he came. The raven nodded and let Tayaka speak to them.

"Both of you be careful. Remember that even though we are a team, we must battle each other in the finals. Train hard and don't hold back when we fight."

They both nodded and smiled at Tayaka and nodded their heads.

"Well, I'll see you guys at the finals. Take care," sighed out Naruto, while rubbing the back of his head. He wasn't good with this sort of stuff.

"I wish you both the best of luck," said Shizuka.

Naruto and Shizuka both bit their thumbs and weaved the hand signs.

**"Kuchiyose no Jutsu! (Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!)."**

Both Shizuka and Naruto disappeared.

Tayaka turned her attention to the raven summoned and nodded at him.

The raven reversed summoned Tayaka into his realm.

**"Let's see if she is worthy like her mother and brother,"** said Shisui's old summon. The two ravens disappeared, leaving the training ground empty.

* * *

AN: In the incident with Shinji, Naruto did use Haki to defeat him. The memory was automatically locked away because Naruto felt overwhelmed by the incident. That's why it explained in the last chapter that Naruto didn't remember what happened. Well, until now.

I'd also like a moment to thank you guys. Like my bio says, this is my first fanfiction. I liked when you guys catch my errors and tell me about them because being an author without a beta is tiring. Since I have work and school, it's difficult for me to go back and edit. I appreciate you guys pointing out my errors, so thank you! If I haven't fix them, I'll go back and try (hopefully). .

Some Of the flashbacks will be explained in further chapters


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